Geoffery Canada

I watched a you tube video on Geoffery Canada and instantly became inspired. In the beginning of his speech he talks about the disappointment he had as a young boy when he found out that Superman didn’t exist. He said that the reason this made him so sad was because he realized that Superman wasn’t going to swoop down and save us all, that there was no man with a super power that would come and change the way our world was functioning and he realized at that moment that if he wanted to make a difference, he was gonna have to do it himself.
One thing I particular enjoyed in Canada’s speech was his attitude towards excuses. I loved how he explained that when he started this program he made sure that the people working for him knew very well the families and kids that were going to need the help. He did this so that months down the road they wouldn’t come to him and say, “Well that family was on drugs” or give any other excuse as to why they couldn’t help that particular child. I thought this was so important because as teachers I think we are so quick to find excuses as to why we couldn’t help a student out.
Canada speaks about how one of the most important parts in the Harlem Children’s Zone is motivating the families to not give up. Without the families on board, this project cannot work and motivating them can be the hardest part. These families look at the glass half empty after everything they have been through and the Harlem Children Zone’s job is to get them to believe that even though everything in their life may be telling them differently, there is faith that things can change. He further explained that America has the highest suicide rate in children than anywhere else in the world. He rationalizes this by describing how these children take on their family’s perspectives and if the families have no faith that they will ever get out of this poverty lifestyle, the kids believe it to. Canada gives an example of his old football coach who was always able to see the good in things no matter how bad they got. He explains that this is the hope and the attitude that needs to be given to these families because for many of them, things can’t get a whole lot worse.
The most important message I got out of Canada’s speech was that it’s not about the money, the publicity or even the schooling that makes the biggest difference. It is reaching out to the families of the children and helping them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Canada realizes the role that these families play in their students lives and is not naïve to the fact that if the families have no faith for change, the children won’t either.