I have opinions – and t-shirts – older than our high school seniors
If you’ve ever met me then you know I’m a talker. And friendly. And love to share newspaper stories and experiences.
Then one day someone said: you’ve been a mentor to me. OK, so she didn’t really say it in those words, but she said, “I was covering a city council meeting and I thought to myself, how would Barb Walter handle this?”
Oh Lord! I thought: I hope this young reporter didn’t end up in jail.
She didn’t, but she did stand up and object to action her board was about to take because it violated the state Open Meeting Law.
Whew!
It’s scary to know that you’ve influenced someone to do something that they wouldn’t have done except for something you said, or did.
It’s also a worry that you may have influenced a young person in a not-so good way, or that you may not be unable to connect with them.
So I decided to clean up my act, and language, when our Hennessey United group decided to stage leadership classes for our high school seniors. After all I wouldn’t be working with hardened journalists who believed in using every letter in the alphabet to express themselves.
Our first class was 2019 seniors, and a few of those kids were enough to even make a preacher cuss, but maybe, as team members said, I shouldn’t treat them like young adults.
The 2020 HHS class was a dream. It was filled with kids who were already leaders, and many who had plans for the future.
It also helped that we had a better feel for what students didn’t know, but needed some life lessons.
Now I’m missing those seniors who are off to college, and out in the real world.
I’m also missing a new batch of students because we had to can cel the 2021 class the first semester due to Covid. When I told my daugh
When I told my daughter-by-another-mother how much I missed those kids she said, “You’re wearing a t-shirt that’s older than they are.”
She was right. It was my “I Survived the 2002 Hennessey Ice Storm” shirt.
Now this old woman can’t wait to get a Covid survivor t-shirt, and talk to everyone I see without wearing a protective mask. So consider this a warning!