School Events
John Donahue
You Can't Judge a Person by Their Cover
Mrs. Engel, Staff Reporter
09/27/2018
KELLER - Dressed in a warm flannel coat, rocking back and fourth, turning his face towards the ground, a man stood at the entrance of the Keller gymnasium on September 27th as chatting junior high students moved past cheerily in anticipation for an upcoming assembly.
To many peoples' surprise when Mr. Barbini introduced the day’s speaker, the man who was standing by the door limped up and grabbed the mic. Taking a wrinkled piece of paper out of his pocket, he began to tell his tale in a raspy voice as he rocked back and forth. Several minutes into his talk, the speaker asked if he could take off his coat. As the flannel jacket came off, as well as the hat he was wearing, his voice returned to normal. Many confused looks came across staff member and student faces. When he stopped rocking, and his stance became strong and steady, many “whats?” could be heard throughout the gym.
John Donahue went on to explain that he does not enter buildings as a homeless man to play a trick on anyone, or to be deceitful, but rather to prove a point: You shouldn't judge a person by their appearance .
Donahue first got the idea when he was volunteering with the homeless and by hearing how people would often stereotype them. At one point he went on to say, “Many are stuck not because they are lazy, but because they are too proud to beg family members and others for help.”
Donahue’s message doesn’t just stop with the homeless. He went on to address issues such as bullying (due to different physical appearances), social isolation (due to having a disability, or simply by being different), as well as addressing the severe real-world consequences bullying and social isolation can have upon the person being taunted or excluded. Donahue also revealed how he was one of those kids who was different and excluded.
At the age of six, John was diagnosed with epilepsy and had to take nine different medications a day. He was so shy that when he was in school, he would walk with his head down in the hallway all the time. But eventually he learned to stop feeling sorry for himself and started forcing himself to talk to people who would never talk to him. Eventually he joined the track and field team, began winning awards, joined theater, and was the first person in his family to go to college. He is now a public speaker giving his message to millions of students all over the country.
His message is this: When you take time to learn someone’s story, you learn (not how they are different) but how they are the same. And when you know someone’s story, you stand up for and with them.
Everyone has a story, and no one should ever get used to feeling as if they don’t belong. If we just take some time to learn the stories of the people around us, the world might be a little less scary and filled will a lot more compassion.
More memorable quotes by John Donahue:
- You can’t always fix your friends, but you can walk with them.
- You’ll never find your passion if you never try new things.
- Do what you’ve never done to get what you’ve never gotten.
Many, if not all, of Mr. Donahue's words resonated with our students. The crowd was very attentive towards his message.
Students were sure to thank Mr. Donahue
for his visit.
EVERYONE HAS A STORY.
Change the way you see yourself, change the way you see others.
~John Donahue-Grossman
Inspirational Storyteller
Keller Walk-a-Thon
Students Unite to Raise Food for
Those in Need
Mrs. Younkin, Staff Reporter
09/19/18
Keller students and teachers alike continue to impress us with the amount of donations they bring in year-to-year to help others in our community. Throughout this half day marathon, students had the opportunity to participate in events like hula-hoop, a three-legged race, giant size bowling ball and Jenga. These events allowed everyone the opportunity to connect at the early start of the school year. More importantly, their efforts with donations of canned foods, health products, and other necessities go back to families among us in the Schaumburg township.
Additionally, many students gathered to help maintain the Keller garden for the season's change. They harvested such herbs as thyme, sage, and mint - all ingredients added to our Keller pantry as a fresh option for meals. Other kids congregated in the cafeteria to organize the one thousand plus items that our school gathered throughout the month of September. We would like to thank Frost Junior High for their contributions to our food drive as well. All in all, the team tallied up enough products to pie both our principal and assistant principal the day of the event.
Let the fun begin! After the walk-a-thon, all students and staff fled to the gym to watch the fantastic slideshow Mr. Barbini put together; the Keller community expressed much emotion simply by sharing the gratitude and happiness they have felt thus far this year. Students earned the chance to pie both Mr. Barbini and Mr. Molby in a drawing with the Wildcat tickets they used to play games during the day. It sure was a treat trying to see both administrators through foam covered glasses! They were great sports and Mr. Barbini could be seen walking around the gym afterwards with clumps of shaving cream still layered on his face. To wrap up the event, our Keller teacher band belted out some tunes to amp the students up even more. Let it be known that some groupies even filtered the crowd with handmade signs to show support for a talented group of musicians. In the end, an overall thank you especially goes out to Mrs. Konkey, Mrs. Sundstrom, and Mrs. Leiva for outdoing themselves once again with a walk-a-thon that surely captured the spirit of happiness that filters through our junior high halls everyday.
It's amazing what a team of people can do together as one. Being a Wildcat sure feels good!
