Marlin Strong

I've experienced an interesting conflation of two worlds this past week. On the one hand, I have been finishing a training presentation for my work at Family Abuse Center that spends some time looking at the "Strengths Perspective" in Social Work. On the other hand, I've witnessed (and participated in) the discussion surrounding the potential closing of Marlin ISD. In the midst of this discussion there has been plenty of worry, and plenty of criticism, particularly from places in Waco.

As some background, the Waco Trib ran an article last week about the closure announcement. Although the journalist was probably doing the best she could, many of us here in Marlin (and those who have worked in Marlin recently) knew the details of the article to not fully represent the true situation. I for one have seen remarkable improvements in the 5 years I have lived here, some of which I outlined in an email I wrote to the article's author.

One of the main points I made in that exchange was that we in Marlin are very aware of our problems. We also watch as the vast majority of news stories Waco media organizations run about Marlin end up being negative. I informed the author that there is a whole other side to the story that goes untold and that what we in Marlin need is hope. Sadly, a few days later, the Waco Trib ran this Editorial essentially continuing to blame the Marlin community for its problems and continuing to ignore the signs of improvement some of us tried to bring to their attention.

That is where this discussion collides with my other work. The Strengths Perspective of social work essentially argues that you can bring about change by calling out the strengths and skills of a client. You then play to those strengths to overcome the weaknesses and dysfunctions. It is a perspective based on optimism versus pessimism. It is a perspective built upon encouragement, not endless criticism.

And isn't that what Jesus did? He first approached his disciples with a call to "follow me." He didn't say "follow me because you're hopelessly screwed up." Rather, he saw their potential and invited them on an adventure. Or think of the woman at the well. Jesus knew her flaws and could've called them out immediately. Instead, he chose to engage her in theological debate because he saw her wisdom and knew she would become a greater witness in that town than his own disciples. He used a gentle hand to guide his flock to greater things. He knew the flaws, but he came alongside them and patiently molded them. Although he had every right to pull the God-card on them and start ordering them around because he "knew best," he chose to take the role of a servant calling out the strengths in his disciples.

That is what our city needs now. We need hope. But hope does not come from simple optimism and well-wishing. It comes from identifying our strengths and utilizing those strengths to get to work.

There is lots of work to be done for our schools. Even though we have seen improvements these past 2 or 3 years, prior to that there were many years of mismanagement and poor decisions that led to our current state. So it will take some time to undo the damage. Unfortunately, TEA does not seem to be as forgiving when it comes to time.

So, my proposal is to start calling out our strengths and start using those strengths to achieve change. Feel free to comment below with the strengths you have seen among us. I will end with what I have seen:

• We have teachers and staff that genuinely care for our students. This is not the case in every school district.
• We have creative students. I have known many students who are amazing artists.
• We are a resilient community. How many times have we faced bad news? How much negative press has been given to Marlin by insiders and outsiders? How are we still walking after years of driving through potholes? We have dealt with all these and more, but we are still here, and there is still a great deal of pride. Don't let anyone take that pride away!
• We have a Wal-Mart (hey, that's pretty impressive for a city our size!)
• We have a really awesome program (No Excuses University) at the elementary school that starts preparing students for college and academic success.
• We have diversity in our community.
• We have a community that cares for our schools. There were 1,000 people who showed up to the school meeting this past Wednesday! (That a freaking 1/6 of our entire city!!)

Please add more, and let's start the change. Let's create the hope. We are strong!