The glory road to education reform...

I think I've decided that I'm going to show Glory Road the first day or first week of the school year in my two math classes next year...

If you haven't seen Glory Road, yet, I highly recommend it...it's very nice to see this trend in movies like Glory Road, Munich, and Capote of soft lighting and unobtrusive costume choices to focus audiences on the story...and it's a marvelous story...

It's the story of the 1965-66 Texas Western Miner basketball team, coached by basketball legend Don Haskins, who fielded a team of 7 black and 5 white players to improbably win the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship...

It's a story of a group of guys, most of which nobody expected to go to college nevertheless play basketball, defying all doubts and expectations and a college basketball game very much tainted with the stain of racism...a game dominated by white coaches, journalists, and boosters who had a million excuses for why black players couldn't compete...with Texas Western, a small, modestly-funded little mining school in West Texas (now the University of Texas - El Paso) being the first team to start 5 black players, and to do so in the Championship game...and winning it all...

It is a story of an underdog team from a little known school accomplishing the impossible when noone thought they could...

And since that is exactly what my kids and I will be doing this next year and every year afterwards:):)...

I want them to get a feel for what it looks like to overcome all odds and everyone's doubts about what you can and cannot do...

I don't know how many times I hear people talk about all of the things that my kids can't do...

So we're going to build on our successes from this year and starting showing everyone what they can do...

And this movie should be inspiration for overcoming all the doubt and skepticism that these kids can do a hell of a lot more than people give them credit for...if they have teachers and coaches and parents and adults who expect and inspire more out of them...

Did I mention that I love being an underdog?...I wouldn't ever have it any other way:):):)...

I just started summer classes at Washburn University, by the way, in Topeka, Kansas, to finish my Master's Degree in special education...

My plans during and after the summer are to change the face of education, public education, and special education with the help of my kids...

And to start working on this book and go on to change the face of policy, psychology, economics, education, criminology, international relations, and really anything else I can get my hands on during this too short life...

What are your summer plans?:):):)...

Have a great week, everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben