“Follow your passion,” is such a frequently repeated bit of advice we get told by the world around us. As we grow older, however, society feels a bit more restricting and tends to contradict these words. They divide our aspirations into two categories: “Acceptable” and “When Pigs Fly.” No role was too small, but so many aspirations seemed too big to chase after.
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The expert in neighborly love, Fred Rogers, said: “We live in a world in which we share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” Jackson is full of heroes. So many, in fact, they can’t all fit on this list. These are brief snapshots of a few ways our community is showing up for our village of children. As you read about the different organizations investing in JMCSS, consider how you can join them.
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Over the last quarter of a century, I have tried to explain what JCM was like to people I know who are from Jackson or grew up out of town. I find that when I tell them about state championship athletic teams or Ivy League graduates I hear my own words not making sense to me. When I tell them about a racially diverse school of over 2,000 students that offered AP classes and rigorous honors classes, I regret that I didn’t appreciate what my high school was when I attended. When I choose stories to read with my middle school English class that I once read as a student at JCM, it is the best way I know how to honor the truly outstanding English department that shaped my love for reading in high school.
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Two or three times a week, I put my body through the ringer. For thirty minutes, I do exercises that a man approaching forty probably shouldn’t attempt. I throw my body to the ground and spring up as quickly as I can. I push a weighted plate across the floor. I crawl like a bear up and down mats made of rubber. After all that is finished, I put on boxing gloves and hit a heavy bag that sometimes feels as if it’s made of concrete. When I kick it, my foot and shin turn red and bruise. My shoulders and arms feel as if they’re weighted by stones.
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