I was talking to a disheartened student today. He was really down because of his grades.

They were bad.

I talked with him and he was still down. I told him I was proud of him for a decision he made earlier that day because it showed he had integrity, even when others didn’t want him to make that choice.

I got him working with our student learning coach, and checked in after about 30 minutes.

He was chipper and happy.

I asked what changed.

He said, “I guess it is just that people saw me for who I was on the inside, not just the outside.”

What we do with kids matters.