When Kids’ Lives Work, Schools Can Work…

     Students’ personal lives and circumstances have a direct impact on their lives as students.  If kids’ situations are chaotic or unstable, if their home is transitory, if they are hungry or do not have proper clothing, they become insecure, emotionally fragile.  If they feel alone and that they will not or cannot fit in, school may be the last thing on their minds and the last place they want to be.          

     That’s where Heidi Maxie comes in.

     Maxie is a math teacher at the James B. Castle High School in Kaneohe, Honolulu, Hawaii.  In the classroom, she explains, guides, facilitates, encourages, builds confidence and lovingly holds her students to high expectations.  But she is much more than an expert and understanding teacher.   

     She is confidant, role model, friend.  She is also a woman on a mission.  Every morning before school, she greets students, asking if they are okay.  If they are, great.  Still, she is always checking, caring, available, growing relationships.  Students trust her.  They talk to her.  Once she finds out what they need, she makes sure to provide it.

     She does not do it alone.  Maxie’s good will embraces everyone in her community and inspires them to respond in kind, any way they can.  People donate food from their gardens, clothes from their closets for girls and boys in every size plus a washing machine to keep them clean.  People give from their hearts so that students can feel good about themselves, focus on school, and plan their futures.  In the process, these kids see and understand how good it is to be part of a community and one day return the kindness and give back.  As they say in Kaneohe, “One Ohana…One Family.”

          Every community needs a Heidi Maxie.  Any one of us (or group of us) can take the lead and watch what wonderful things happen.   For now, there is nothing better than hearing from Maxie herself, along with other members of her large and enthusiastic community family: