WHAT TO DO WITH STARFISH

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #68 – October 9, 2010

If you’ve ever been given a gift that changed your life, you will understand what I’m about to say. Have you ever had someone help you out? Make a difference in your life? Show you or teach you something that changed your world? Someone once gave me something that had such a significant impact on my thinking as a teacher, I felt compelled to pass it on to others. This is why I am giving you the gift now.

When I was a principal, I gave this gift to my teachers, every year. To do so, I gathered all of them in a room and sat them around a large table. I noticed how full of energy they were, anticipating the work that awaited them. There was Mark; he had a way of making even the most downtrodden child smile and feel good about something they had done. I remember Marie getting down on the pavement of the parking lot trying to calm one of our “special” students who was intent on remaining underneath his mom’s car. I waited until their conversations died down. I welcomed them to the fresh start of our school year, smiled and proceeded to read them this story:

The Starfish Story
(adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley 1907 – 1977)
While walking down the beach, a man saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it in the ocean.
As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.
After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said, "There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to save all of them. There are simply too many. You can't possibly save enough to make a difference."
The young boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean.
"It made a difference to that one," he replied.
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After reading the story, I waited a few seconds, and allowed this awesome truth to sink in. I noticed wide open eyes and nodding heads. When the time was right, I asked, “So, what are you thinking?”

Each one of them had different thoughts about how this story applied to their job as a teacher. Each one internally made it a personal story. This is exactly what I wanted to happen. How much better is it when someone creates their own meaning, from which they can then build their own goals and dreams? Then, I gave each teacher a starfish pin to wear, in hopes that wearing the pin and seeing this symbol would keep the burning purpose of making a difference, alive throughout the year.

On one of our “Back to School Nights,” one of my teachers told this story to the parents as “his own.” He promised the parents not to leave even one “starfish” behind in the sand. He said the children would be safe with him and he would help guide them toward the kind of learning that would lead them beyond mere survival and onto a life where they would use their own abilities to thrive.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith

If you know someone who you would like to give the gift of this story to as well as the starfish pin, here is the website I order them from. ( I am not connected to this website in any way):
http://www.masterteacher.com/product/detail.cfm?MT_Item_Number=240101