As events and experiences started happening leading up to the San Diego And truly, just about everyday, something amazing happened! I have documented stories about that and I'll share one in just a moment! As we got into it and kept personally witnessing crazy things (like Fran's suggestion that I email you about our need), we said, "We're going to make a movie!" or "This is going to be a great scene in our movie!" Again, everyone just laughed! It was a regionals, we began to say, "Something amazing is going to happen today!" ludicrous idea! But it was such a fun idea that it brought more life and vitality to the experience! We laughed a lot as different things would happen! So when Mr. Perry called to let us know just a few days ago that a producer from LA was thinking about using us in a portion of a documentary that they were filming, our mouths just dropped open and we said, "Something amazing is going to happen!" Mr. Buchta, the producer interviewed the students on Wednesday and is going to propose the idea to his supervisor! While we don't know if our particular scene will be selected, we still have stopped and reflect, "Who would have ever thought that our dream of being in a movie would actually be on the radar screen?" But it is! It's all so crazy, but so wonderful! Each new experience has done wonders for our students and for us!
Here's just one of the miraculous stories that has occurred in the life of one of our students, Donovan Lehnig! This senior was a student of Mr. Perry. He was one of the ones that actually got this whole thing started and served as the main builder of the robot! The young man is brilliant, but has had a life that has been very challenging. He has been tossed here and there and now his real father has full custody. When Donovan first entered Independent Studies, he would not even say two words. He hid in the background and avoided interacting with people. He and his father struggle to get by, but they are doing okay. The dad just got his taxes back and made a huge sacrifice and got Donovan an X-box 360 -- a gift that Donovan has wanted for years, but they just had no money to buy it! The two of them were just trying to put food on the table! Donovan was so thrilled. Interestingly enough though, the day that the Mr. Lehnig had the X-box ready for Donovan, Donovan chose to finish working on the robot -- to get one more thing done because the clock was ticking! As much as he wanted to play those games, the success of the robot was more important to him!
During the entire build season, no one was really paying attention to Donovan and how close he looked at his work. We were all just impressed with his tenacity, his ideas, and his know how. As time went on, Donovan and a teammate, John Kinnamon became friends and would go to John's house to play X-box 360. Ms. Kinnamon, team mom, noticed that Donovan was right up next to the TV so that he could "see" the screen. She made a comment about that. Still, no one was paying any attention. Later Mr. Perry quietly informed me that Donovan was blind in one eye. Again, I wasn't paying attention and Donovan obviously had compensated for his loss because he never said anything. Then one night after we had a great build night, he was sitting at the computer in front of my office door and I was at the desk and he quietly said that he had lost his eye to cancer when he was one year old. I stopped and was dumbfounded that he had even revealed that piece of information. We talked for a few minutes and I basically commended him for his compensation skills. I told him I would never have known. Now mind you, Donovan has long hair and he wears his hair so that it covers his blind eye. You can't even see it. So for him to tell me that he was blind in one eye was a huge step for Donovan! However, I'm still not paying any attention to the situation though!
The robot was built and now we had to find a driver for the robot. Mind you, Donovan, along with Mr. Escobedo, our robot builder mentor, had been working tirelessly every day for 4-6 hours on this creation. Donovan's heart is totally into it. As far as we are concerned, he is the driver. But now we find out he is blind in one eye and can't even see! During the EXPO another student enters the picture, Michael Fuller. Mike has better driving skills because he can see. From our experience with other teams, team members actually compete for the honor to be the driver of the robot because the driver gets points for the team and that's what you want to happen -- get points for the team! Well, our teachers got together and we basically said, "You know, this project is not about winning, it's about building people's lives. We don't care if we lose, but we do care about Donovan and he has earned the right to drive the robot." It was a done deal. Donovan was going to drive the robot -- blind or not!
Interestingly enough, just 2 weeks before the event, Mike, who still was hoping to be the driver, but finding out that the honor, was going to Donovan, offered to give Donovan his glasses so that Donovan could see a bit better to drive the robot! It was at that point that we thought, "Get Donovan glasses so at least he can see with the one working eye that he has!" If it's meant to be, he'll have glasses by the time the competition would start which was Thursday, March 6th. On Friday, February 29th we were in contact with Mr. Daniel Mason, an eye doctor, and then with Brenda, our school nurse. No one thought he'd get an exam and glasses by the event. But then, who cared! The important thing was not about winning, it was about getting Donovan a pair of glasses so he could see! The young man wants to go to college. He needs glasses! On Thursday, when our team met together to get into the cars to go to the first day of the event, Donovan had glasses. He had also shaved off his beard! He looked great! But, his hair still hung over his eye! But he was smiling!
Oh, one other segment to the story. Around February 20th, I received a magazine in the mail with a picture of a boy in a baseball uniform standing at bat with a bat in his hand. He only had one arm! I felt impressed to go to Donovan and his dad and show them the picture. It was on a Sunday. They were home, and I showed them the picture. We talked about how this young man had compensated for his disability and was not ashamed of it. It was actually the source of his 'heroism'. Here he was one-armed and doing what everyone else could do and it was out in the light. We talked about letting people know that Donovan was blind -- to come out in the open with it. He said no. He didn't want anyone to know. So we left it at that. He had given me that information on the side and I would guard it.
At the competition, he did great. He got a lot of points for the team. No one knew he was blind in one eye! Then we get to the interview this past Wednesday. The producer goes around and asks everyone to tell their story. Donovan is last. He tells his story -- sort of. But he never brings up the point that he is blind in one eye. We dismiss the students and then Dennis, Bernardo, and I are standing with the producer to go and talk about things. Donovan comes up to our little group and then tells the producer that he has one more thing that he would like to add. He then tells the producer that he lost his eye to cancer when he was young. I was dumbfounded! Donovan finally was able to face this disability and was willing to put it out for the entire world to see. I asked him two times, Donovan, are you willing for this to go on the screen?" The producer wasn't really paying attention to this whole encounter. However, when we went back and sat down, as the staff, I pointed out what miracle just occurred while the producer was standing there. Even the producer commented, "I should have paid more attention. I didn't realize what a transitional moment that was in Donovan's life." That is what it has been like with this entire experience! It has not been about building a robot -- it has been about life changing events for students and indeed for us all!
Not one of us is the same person we were before we entered this competition. We have witnessed incredible experience after experience! We have witnessed incredible changes in the lives of each other and our students! We believe in dreams and the crazier the dream, the more we laugh, and then we dig in and see if we can make it happen! It's all so much fun, and it is electrifying! There are so many stories.
Our newest dream is "We're going to the White House!" Once we won the regional, the possibility of going to the White House became truly within our reach! We have a tremendous message to share which is: Education needs to have FIRST in every school! We need a nation of people who practice "gracious professionalism". FIRST is intergenerational. It involves every segment of our society (educators, civic leaders, businesses, corporations, media, mentors, parents, and students), and the way to infuse inspirational ideas into the hearts and minds of our youth is through education! This is the vehicle to take our entire nation to the top! This is the vehicle to make the US FIRST on the global map! And why? To bring the entire world together in the spirit of "gracious professionalism" and to encourage youth everywhere to pursue opportunities in math, science, technology and engineering to enrich the lives of everyone worldwide! Yes, it's a crazy dream, but it makes us laugh because it is so crazy! It could happen! Right now, our initial dream is waiting to materialize, "We're going to Atlanta!"
