Читать книгу The Courageous Classroom - Jed Dearybury - Страница 14

Our mind is fear-based because our primitive, lizard brain wants to control our reality and keep us safe. When we are faced with a situation that makes us confused, on guard or afraid, our lizard brain takes over. Although fear itself is not an emotion, it can push us into a river of feelings. However, we have the power to control fear and use our physical and mental response to a fearful situation to our advantage by engaging our wizard brain, which is responsible for executive functioning, in other words, “thinking about thinking.”

When we are traumatized or have a terror event, our brain combines all of our sensory material, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and creates a semantic memory (events and facts). Semantic memory imprints on the brain like indelible ink; it never goes away. Since we can't erase a semantic memory, we can use our courage to face our fears and create a new more powerful memory that incorporates our purpose, strength, resilience, and healthy coping skills to overcome events that happen in our life.

Keanon Lowe did just that.

On a crisp, but gray spring day in Northeast Portland, ex-pro football star Keanon Lowe calmly drove his dented red Cherokee to work at Parkrose High School not too far from his modest home. As he bit into his apple and gulped his coffee his mind undoubtedly was on his part-time job as the school security guard, but also, on his double-coaching duties as the head coach of the football and track teams. Keanon had two jobs at Parkrose. Neither were easy nor left him financially comfortable, but he chose to be there because, for him, being a positive role model for teenagers was invaluable.

Parkrose High is not unlike other city schools across the nation. Almost three-quarters of the diverse student body at Parkrose qualify for a free lunch because of their families' financial status. The grim brick on the outside in no way reflects the emotions and relationships – positive and negative – swirling inside. Keanon came to the school to make a difference after losing a childhood buddy to a devastating drug overdose. He brought to the job his life experience and knowledge of sport and competition. Lowe says of the school, “I've always known that Parkrose, they didn't win at anything … it's a small forgotten school.” He continues, “That's what attracted me to the place” (Bishop 2019).

Growing up a stone's throw away from Parkrose in a suburb eight miles away, Lowe was raised by a single mother. Taking responsibility for his siblings at a young age, he had a great ethic and set an example for others. As a college star at the University of Oregon he played fearlessly, undersized but very determined on special teams, both defensive and offensive, a testament to his skill. His teammates and coaches describe him as unselfish but tough, as well-known as much as a leader as he was a player. Keanon Lowe was a first-year coach at Parkrose when he got a call to escort a depressed student from another building to the guidance officer. Leaving his cramped office that he shared with another security guard, he willingly complied.

Walking on the concrete walkway bordered by sparse grass, he joked with students as he passed them. The sun had come out in full force and felt good. As he reached the classroom where the students were learning about government, he heard screams bounce off the cement hallway walls. The shrill screams were soon replaced by the sounds of a human stampede of panicked students rushing out of their class because one of their classmates had a weapon, a shotgun partly sticking out from under his black trench coat.

That student was the same one that Keanon Lowe had been tasked to get. Awkwardly face to face, the black metal of the long gun served as a blistering ruler; the distance between them measured by the shotgun squarely placed in the upset student's trembling hands. Looking directly into the teenager's eyes, Lowe saw confusion, anger, desperation, and tears. As the distressed young man suddenly lifted the shotgun to turn it on himself, the remaining students ran for their lives.

Lowe could have too.

He did not.

Keanon Lowe made the decision to grab the shotgun from the young man. At the time, Lowe was unaware that the student, upset over a failed romantic relationship, had recently been diagnosed with depression. They wrestled around the classroom, clanging on blackboards, and ended up in the hallway banging against the metal lockers. Miraculously, Lowe was able to grab the shotgun while keeping the young man in a strong grip. Lowe breathlessly tossed the shotgun to another teacher while screaming at him to call 911.

Putting the young man on the floor while waiting for the police to come, the student was agitated and upset, tearfully shouting, “Nobody cares about me!”

Keanon Lowe did the unthinkable.

He looked into his eyes and said, “I care about you.” Lowe continued saying, “I do bro, That's why I'm here, I got you buddy.” As the police swarmed in and took the student into custody, Lowe was spared. The student was arrested and later released to a hospital for mental health treatment.

Fear. Keanon Lowe used courage and caring to transform his fear into the energy of compassion.