We protect what we value and during my formative years, I did not value education; which is why I almost didn’t graduate from high school. For me, school was boring, and yet after graduating,  I attended a local City College…only to flunk-out. However, after a stint in the Army, my attitude about education and self-improvement changed. I went back to college, earned good grades and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting.

Looking back it’s easy to understand, and yet hard to fathom, why I had no interest in school. I enjoyed science and nature, and yet, could care less about sitting in a classroom and doing the work.

In “The Silent Epidemic,” a research paper sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, boredom and being uninspired are the primary reasons why students dropped out of school. But here’s the good news.: we have the power to bring a student’s attention back into the classroom if we’re nibble enough to bring-out “what is within them.”

In 1945, a peasant farmer unearthed a large clay jar. And in the jar was a text written on papyrus that is known as The Gospel of Thomas. Contained within this ancient text is 114 lessons, purportedly spoken by the living Jesus. The following is one of my favorite lessons I quote often…If you bring out what is within you, what you bring out will save you. If you do not bring out what is within you, what you do not bring out; will destroy you.

To learn about a strategy that empowers students to “bring-out what is within them,” check-out my podcast and video by clicking on HELPING STUDENTS TO FIND THEIR VOICE.