Les Brown, escaped from his Special Education classroom and walked into Mr. Washington's room to wait for a friend. "Come to the board and write something down for me." "Who me?" "Yes you, come on up to the board." "I can't," Les replied. "Why not?" "Because I'm not one of your students." "That doesn't matter," said the teacher, "come to the board anyway."

Embarrassed, Les refused, saying, "I can't do that." "Why not?" "Because I'm mentally retarded." The High School students snickered, as the teacher moved from behind his desk and said, "Don't ever say that again. Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality."

Les was very self conscious. After being put back twice, he was ready to accept the professional evaluation of the educators and believe he could never excel.

Another day, Les was walking down the hallway, when he heard Mr. Washington's voice coming from the auditorium as he gave a speech to the graduating seniors. "You have greatness within you," the teacher said. "You have something special. If just one of you can get a glimpse of a larger vision of yourself, of who you really are, of what it is you bring to the planet, of your specialness, then in a historical context, the world will never be the same again. You can make your parents proud. You can make your school proud. You can make your community proud. You can touch millions of people's lives. You can be the one."

When he was done, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Touched by the power of Mr. Washington's words, Les stopped the teacher in the parking lot. "Mr. Washington, I heard your speech today." "But you're a Junior," he said, "Why were you in the auditorium?"

"I know. But I heard the speech and I want you to know that speech was for me, Sir. You said they had greatness within them. Is there greatness within me, Sir?"

"But what about the fact that I failed English and Math and History, and I'm going to have to go to summer school. What about that, Sir? I'm slower than most kids. I'm not as smart as my brother or my sister who's going to the University of Miami."

"It doesn't matter. It just means that you have to work harder. Your grades don't determine who you are or what you can produce in your life."

As the teacher turned to walk away, Les said, "Mr. Washington." "I'm the one, Sir. You remember me, remember my name. One day you're gonna hear it. I'm gonna make you proud. I'm the one, Sir."

Les Brown grew up to be a movie producer for public television. Mr. Washington called him after seeing his special "You Deserve" on the educational channel in Miami.

—"A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul" Editor: Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

For more information on this book, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1558743804/fm082-20

The state of California has ordered a chain of private schools in the state to stop handing out phony diplomas. Authorities seized the assets of the alternative high school program and asked a judge to stop the company's 30 schools from handing out "high school diplomas" to students seeking a better life through education.

Authorities contend the company charges it's primarily Latino students between $450 and $1450 for a ten week course, based on a 54 page book that is filled with errors. The book teaches students that Congress has two houses, the Senate for Democrats and the House for Republicans. The book falsely claims that the flag of the United States has not been updated to reflect the addition of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico to the "original" 50 states, giving the US a grand total of 53 states.

The truth is the Second World War was fought between 1939 and 1945, though the United States did not enter the fight until 1941. All 50 states are represented on the flag. Puerto Rico is a territory, not a state.

Though two other states are joining California to block the company from claiming their diplomas are "official," the company claims 78 locations nationwide and says it will continue to actively expand.

—Reuters, Can You Name All 53 States?, Monday August 9, 2004. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

2 Tim. 2:15 (NASB) "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."

A new study suggests that when it comes to teaching difficult subjects, the method of instruction is more important than the teacher. The study headed by Nobel Prize recipient Carl Wieman pitted a highly rated veteran professor using a traditional lecture approach against a graduate student that interacted with the class using a device that resembled a television remote. When they tested the students with a 12 question pop quiz, those in the interactive class got an average of 74 percent of the questions correct, compared with 41 percent of those who attended the lecture.

Wieman said the results show a need to use a more hands-on teaching approach, to reach a generation raised on video games. He says the method has worked well in individual tutoring for years, and has more to do with the way the brain learns. Though the study only looked at two sections of physics, and the students were aware they were being studied, Wieman believes the technique will work with other disciplines, and even history. He said, “It’s really what’s going on in the student’s minds rather than who is instructing them. This is clearly more effective learning. Everybody should be doing this.”

--Study: it’s not teacher, but method that matters, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110512/ap_on_sc/us_sci_teacher_or_tools; May 12, 2011, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Matthew 13:34-35 (CEV) Jesus used stories when he spoke to the people. In fact, he did not tell them anything without using stories. (35) So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "I will use stories to speak my message and to explain things that have been hidden since the creation of the world."

Pastor Bill Galus used a homebuilt space capsule to raise money for the church youth group and to teach the children at the church school about the space program. Galus lived inside the capsule for an entire week, and then lead the congregation in an outside worship service the following Sunday. He named the capsule “Glory 7,” in honor of the space capsules piloted by the Mercury astronauts. The capsule had everything Galus needed, including a supply of space-style dried foods, a refrigerator for bottled water, a chair, table, and fan. He said one challenge he had was sleeping because the bed was only 5 feet long, and he is six feet tall. During his simulated journey, Galus communicated via blog pots and used Face Time to answer question from the school students during their chapel service. When asked why he undertook such a sacrifice, Galus said he hoped to share history with the students at the school. He said, “To them, the Mercury space program is ancient history. They are studying the space program in their classes. What child born in the ‘60s didn’t want to be an astronaut? I think the best way to teach is with object lessons and that’s why I wanted the space capsule.” —Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

West Mifflin pastor moves into 'space capsule' to help children, teach history, By Carol Waterloo Frazier, http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmckeesport/yourmckeesportmore/9090273-74/capsule-space-pastor#axzz3lovwwh6z, Accessed September 15, 2015.

Proverbs 13:14 (HCSB) A wise man’s instruction is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.

Teaching

The French Teacher at Energy Institute High School does not know French. The Houston, Texas public school district hired him after they took disciplinary action against the former French teacher who had 25 years of experience. Students in the class say the new teacher speaks only one word of French, “bonjour,” and any question they have they find the answer on Google.

It is difficult to teach someone a subject you are unfamiliar with. –Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

2 Timothy 2:15 (HCSB)“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.”

Some teachers believe they can teach anyone anything. But the truth is the student must have certain qualifications as well. For example, in Washington State police arrested the driver of a Buick for driving 109 mph on the interstate. The Buick had hit two other cars, then left the interstate and drove up a bicycle path. When police finally got the car stopped they found a pit bull on the lap of the man in the driver’s seat. The man’s response was, “I was trying to teach my dog how to drive.”

Teaching a dog to drive is like trying to teach spiritual truths to a natural person. Spiritual truths can only be learned by spiritual persons. The apostle Paul tells us that this is an impossible task. So is teaching a dog to drive a Buick. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.