Introductions
This past weekend, I had the great fortune of touring several schools in Port St. Lucie and Ft. Pierce Florida – all of which have implemented the “Kids at Hope” model. At one of the locations we visited a young man in the 3rd grade who, of all the people (adults and children alike) I met, delivered what I believe was one of the very best greetings ever. "Hi, my name is "Jake" and I am a Kid at Hope" - it was a firm handshake, he looked me directly in the eye and he awaited my reply - "nice to meet you "Jake", I am Allen and I am a Treasure Hunter." We were in a line to his school's auditorium and even though there were about 10 people who met him seconds before I did and at least that many who were following behind - he was focused on me. He cared that we were there to find out how the Kids at Hope culture was working at his school and he wanted to share his ideas on how it had impacted him. I am sure that he doesn't yet know how much impact that would have on us and potentially on other kids his age.
My immediate reaction was, wow, I need to teach my own son how to introduce himself like that. That reaction quickly shifted to, hey, I wonder if my own introduction leaves that kind of impression on people?
No matter my answers and follow-up plans (and I do have those!) to these two still lingering questions, the fact remains that we could all learn something from this 3rd grader.
What’s the best part of any greeting? In my opinion, it’s genuineness – knowing that the person who is saying hello to you whether for the first time or the 100th time is genuinely interested, concerned and really recognizes that you are “present”. This young man was genuine, he cared that we were there, he was glad that we were there and, most importantly, he showed it all in a brief moment.
Upon meeting him, I immediately got the sense that the time we would share would be as much about him learning from us as it was going to be about us learning from him. Indeed it was.
This was clearly a hopeful, confident and “filled with dreams of his future” 3rd grader. I am hopeful we can produce more just like him.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/14/kids-at-hope-founder-visits-windmill-point/
