District Administrator's Corner

by Loren Glasbrenner River Valley School District Administrator I had the good fortune of meeting an author this week.  He is an inspirational writer that helps others find the positive if they are struggling.  His medium is the written word. He has not been published widely yet, but there is incredible potential for him to have a best-seller self-care book someday.  His name is Jaxson Jakubowski.  Jaxson is a sixth grade student at River Valley Middle School. And, what he writes is true. Perfect Storm by Jaxson Jakubowski Everyone has a rough patch in their life but some try to fight it and stay happy others fall into a depression and stay in that sad gloomy spot but  they should know that every storm runs outta rain.  There will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.  You just have to be willing to walk out of it but no matter who you are  we need to help each other. Upon Jaxson’s request, the middle school counselor/teacher shared this poem with me and I needed to meet the author.  Yet, this is not your typical writer.  Jaxson is a sixth grader full of life, ideas, and joy.  Picture this—if you are imagining a student afraid to share and who awkwardly walked into the district administrator’s office as a middle-schooler, you are all wrong.  He came right into my office, said he was glad to meet me, accepted my invitation, and was an open book!  Jaxson sat in an office chair in a Peanut’s t-shirt illustrated with Snoopy taking a nap with one word—“Nope.”  He smiled through his face mask and spoke honestly about the poem.  He was happy to share that inspirational words can lift people up.  It really was the best part of my day.  I asked Jaxson what started this path of writing poetry with purpose.  Jaxson shared that he started writing inspiration quotes with his cousin and friend.  He would find inspirational speeches on social media and share them with her when she was feeling down.  “It’s true, some people need a hand to help lift them - some stand by their own - but in this case they needed a hand.”  After that, he just kept writing.  The quotes turned into original work and pages of ideas to help. When I asked him about where he finds inspiration he quickly responded, “My mind, myself and playing video games.”  And, that shocked me.  But then again, in a middle-schooler’s eyes, I am old.  Frogger and Ms. Pacman are seen as ancient.  But again, Jaxson is right.  A recent study at New York University has shown that video games can increase motivation and attention, which increases learning.  “We found support for claims that well-designed games can motivate students to learn less popular subjects, such as math, and that game-based learning can actually get students interested in the subject matter—and can broaden their focus,” commented one of the study’s lead researchers, Jan Plass (Stenger, 2013). Students, such as Jaxson, crush our stereotypes.  They take their interests and use them to help others and inspire.  Jaxson and our youth have things to share.  They continue to surprise us.  Jaxson uses words as his avenue to assure people are not alone.  And, he is proud of this work.  So are we, Jaxson.  So are we.