Perspective!

Today I forgot my keys. I've been driving my daughter's car to school in the process of having the automotive department do some work on it. Well, I left my keys in it and today I drove my truck. So being unable to get into the tool room and having neglected the messy area behind the shop for some time now, I decided it would be a good time to spruce up a little. We have all of the brooms and shovels we need even if I couldn't get to any tools. Well, we started sweeping and cleaning the back area. To one of my kids surprise there was, growing out of an old pile of dirt, a watermelon that was about the size of a Pop-Warner size football! Don't ask me how it got there but it became good "around the faculty lunch table" conversation. But then comes third block! I made a big mistake when I brought the watermelon to the attention of my third block students! End of watermelon! One kid snatched it off of the vine, took it into the shop, and sawed it in half with a hand saw! The watermelon wouldn't have survived this late in the season anyway but it still made me mad. Well, needless to say it became a catalyst for learning. The same student approached me about fifteen minutes later and asked "sir, why do we have to clean this area up? It's only going to get dirty again"! I told him it was all in his perspective. I told him that from my perspective I could see a big, fat, juicy watermelon that everyone could have enjoyed if a certain someone had let it grow as apposed to his perspective of seeing it as something he could show off with to his peers. And in the same way I could see a nice clean area that we could utilize as opposed to the trash dump he saw. It's all in the perspective. I see a school full of successful kids all with a bright future.....or at least I want to!