In that first minute that he arrived in the door, I sensed that it would be very important to get to know "Leon" and talk to him about his goals for the future. I walked up to him and asked him what happened to his hand and arm that was all wrapped up. He had obviously been in the hospital very recently. He said, "Well, I got really mad and I punched in a window!" I responded something like, "You seem like a smart guy. I bet you'll learn from that mistake and never do that again!" He agreed. I told him about the time my dad punched in a wall. I told him that he didn't do that again because instead of 10 stitches, my dad bruised his hand terribly and was in a lot of pain too. He laughed.
For the next couple of weeks "Leon" was so social that it was sometimes a disruption. So, I had a couple of attractive people help him as he worked with a plastic glove which helped to calm him down so that other people could more easily focus on their work.
I asked "Leon" what career he wanted to go into. He told me that he wanted to become a rap artist and he didn't need to graduate for that. I advised him that he would feel better about himself if he graduated and it would make him smarter so that when people tried to take advantage of him when he was making money being a rapper, he would be able to figure out the issues and deal with it. He agreed that it might be a good idea. I advised him that "How we do anything is how we do everything." The more that we put effort into things, the more that we train ourselves to be better in every way.
I asked where "Leon" was rapping and if he had a CD of his work because I wanted to hear it. He told me that he had never rapped publicly. He said that he would wait until he was done with school to try anything. I told him that the quicker he started, the quicker he would become successful. From then on I asked him every week if he had work ready to record. I would ask him if he worked on lyrics during the weekend. He would thank me for my support and little by little things got done until he happily said that he was finished writing his first song.
Right after Spring Break he burst in the door exclaiming joyfully that his uncle knew someone who recorded his rap song during the break! I was very excited for him! I asked him if I could listen to it. He wouldn't let me listen because he said that he would be too embarassed to have me as his teacher hear the words to his song. I told him that I could understand that.
In the weeks that followed, "Leon" held his head higher, and put 10 times the effort and focus that he had previously put into his ceramic work. From this change of heart, I knew that some of that effort and focus would flow into his classes. Before this time, "Leon" was completely flunking his English class along with some other classes. But now in these last 2 months he was giving it all he had. The English teacher was kind. He asked me if it was possible for "Leon" to retake tests that he had failed during my classtime so he might have the possibility of passing his class and graduating. I happily agreed.
"Leon" would very seriously check in with me, and I would tell him to go pass that test! You can do it!
A week before graduation, "Leon" came up to me at the beginning of class with complete shock and maybe a little fear on his face and told me that he was now passing all of his classes and said "I'm going to graduate." I was overwhelmed with joy for him! I told him that I knew that he could do it and he is now on to bigger and better things!
"Leon" did graduate in June 2016 with his friends and family around him. I hope that someday he'll come back to say "Hello" and have good news to tell me.
Here is a photo of my favorite of "Leon's" creative work. This is his "Unusual Creature."
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