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Why Tim Tebow should teach at YES Prep

December 31, 2009 by Jeremy Jones

tebow 1 Lets just get two things straight from the beginning: First, I am a big college football fan. The twenty Saturdays from September through January are consumed with college football games. When it is all over, I go through a seasonal depression moaning about how great the season was and how I just won’t be the same person until Labor day. Secondly, and without going into detail, I’m not a fan of the Florida Gators. However, I can put my allegiances to the side for a minute to make a comparison with one of college football’s greatest players of all time and the need for a new type of classroom teacher.

Tim Tebow, the University of Florida Senior quarterback and Heisman Trophy Winner, is without a doubt, one of the best college football players of all time. He is the first sophomore to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy which applauds the efforts of college football’s most valuable player. He is the first player in college football to run for and throw for 20 touchdowns in a season. Usually plaques and statues are reserved for Hall-of-Famers and big donors, but Tebow has been commemorated for a speech he gave to the media after an uncharacteristic Florida loss and he is still a student. That gesture just shows how valuable Tebow is to the Gator community.

Tim Tebow possesses all of the characteristics on the football field that we think YES Prep teachers should possess in the classroom:

1. Show grit and perseverance in the face of extreme obstacles and rebound from defeat quickly and with resilience: In a 2008 loss to the University of Mississippi Rebels, Tim tebow 2 Tebow and his team faced a stark reality: without an undefeated season, their chances of playing for a national title game were slim. Tim Tebow’s post game speech served as a rally cry for the remainder of the season (and is now immortalized outside the UF field house) and helped the Gators win the remainder of their football games. Tebow, nearly in tears, said to a packed room of news people, “I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida’s never done here. But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season and you’ll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season.” At YES Prep, we expect our teachers to think and act like leaders in the face of obstacles. Tim Tebow was able to push his team to a very ambitious goal to finish out that season and understood that through challenges, victories are greatly appreciated. He didn’t lose composure nor did he quit. In fact, he got better.

2. Enjoy the responsibility of leading other to big goals: Like Tebow, YES Prep teachers are excited to motivate others around a big goal and push them to achieve it. At YES Prep, we are faced with tough odds. Our students typically enter the 6^th grade at YES Prep on a third or fourth grade level in reading and math. Instead of focusing on the huge challenge this can present, our teachers are energized by this reality and take responsibility for solving that problem. Year after year, our teachers put their students on the path toward college graduation. Tebow won the Heisman trophy in his sophomore year, the youngest to ever have earned it. Likewise, a majority of our teachers take on significant responsibility (grade level chairs, service coordinators, IB administrators, course leaders, etc) within their first three years at YES Prep.

3. Value communication and hold other accountable: One thing that I took away from Tebow’s speech and subsequent performances on the football field was that he first looked internally, took responsibility for his deficits and then committed to holding himself and those around him to high outcomes. We are a team-oriented school and have internalized the fact that we simply would not be successful if we didn’t rely on each other and challenge each other for maximum results. Our teachers are on multiple teams at YES Prep: grade level teams, leadership teams, content teams, district teams and student support teams. It is necessary for our teachers to engage in important student-centered discussions that engage and challenge those people on the team. Tim Tebow wasn’t afraid to create some conflict with his teammate when they were slacking, nor can our teachers.

4. A commitment to serving others. Finally, our teachers are united with outrage at the statistic that a low-income student in a traditional public school in Houston has a 7% change of graduating from college. While Tebow isn't playing football or being a student, he is dedicated to serving others. Much has been made of his summer trips to impoverished communities around the world and his dedication to service should be applauded.

tebow 3 Tebow provides a model example for the kinds of teachers that YES Prep seeks to attract and select. He has left college football better than he found it and through hard work and determination has provided his team outstanding leadership that led to high-achievement.