The will to succeed
I met a friend who is the principal of a college in the
suburbs. He is young and for the last four years, has been fighting
to change the bad image of the college.
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A great number of his 450 students are of Maghrebian or African
origin. Some thirty or so deaf students have been accepted recently
in the school. The students come from families in difficulty.
Very often the mother is the only one to raise the child. |
The principal is not very tall and seems frail in appearance.
But what inner energy he has ! He is afraid of nothing. When
there is a scuffle in the schoolyard, you should see him plunge
into the fray and he wins the respect of everyone. He knows everyone
by name and he never makes a mistake when he calls a student
by name. " Yet, he tells me, everybody's name is not Mohammed
or Fatima! " That is where his strength lies.
He wants to be present as much as he can to all students,
not only in the schoolyard but also after school. Sometimes,
he gets discouraged. When violence has fallen notably, then it
reappears. When classes are finished and students go out, if
it is snowing some students put rocks in snowballs and throw
them at car windows.
Students know very well his words that show his ambition for
them: " You must find a way out " " You can do
it ".
One success that is clear: the catholic schools that cater
to a population with greater means, do not hesitate anymore to
send to his college the students they don't want in their schools.
Television reporters request interviews in his college about
the Islamic veil. They are met by his refusal because no girl
is wearing the veil. The reporters are deceived! |