June 17, 2025 • 35 mins
Ginny Manguno, a teacher at Briarcrest Christian School, assigned listening to the podcast in her high school class. And so we decided to interview Ginny and her 15 students!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, everybody's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.
And we continue now a part two of our conversation
with jennyman Juno in her class at Briarc Christian School
right after these brief messages from our general sponsors. Bob
(00:30):
is very easy to listen to because he's honest and
speaks from the heart. He talked about his mistakes and
what he's learned. He doesn't try to act like a hero. Instead,
he just seems like a regular guy, army and normal
folks who decided to care, which makes the podcast more
powerful and relatable. This podcast taught me that one person
(00:51):
really can make a difference. Bob didn't wait for someone
else to fix things. He took action. Who's that okay?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Brome Zachary Pierce Zach. So, Yeah, this podcast was really
touching because he talks about how people get into, you know,
bad situations because they have nothing else to fill their
time with. So that's why he created the rec Baseball
League in Chicago, in the inner city of Chicago, and
so it's just it's shocking to see, you know, how
(01:19):
just even free time can lead to these bad decisions
and just a simple thing as baseball, and he also
built a high school there as well. So just even
something as simple as a sport can keep them out
of jail.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Did you find him half as funny as I did?
That guy's awesome, didn't he? Yes, listen, guys, no more assignments.
I know it's a podcast, but if you want to laugh,
listen to that podcast because this dude is hilarious. And
by the way, sitting with them, Alex, what was he he?
(01:56):
What was a little bit of background on Bob because
he's so funny.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
You got to keep saying these people's full names. So
it's Bob Mazakowski or whatever.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
What did I tell you about producers correcting me being
a butt head?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
It's pretty basic, isn't a guy?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So he was actually an addict in New York City,
which is fun. So he was like playing rugby in
New York City. And do you remember the story? You
can feel for it to tell if you want. All right,
So he literally like gets kicked out of the game
and he's got a sippy cup full of cocaine that
he's using. And then this pastor also gets kicked out
of the game and he offers him some coke and
(02:33):
he had no idea. The guy was pastor. What does
this guy doing playing rugby as a pastor? And this
guy invited him to his church in Times Square, and
that really fascinating church that had you know, wealthy people
in suits and homeless people going to church together, you know,
and dining together after. And this guy helped make him
a Christian. And Bob ended up intentionally ultimately moving into
the inner city himself too. And I don't think everybody's
(02:56):
necessarily called to do that, but he does put a
good challenge of where ward Christ is where you live
in these mcnanions in the suburbs, or would be living
with the people.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
In the city.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And so he's also, like Alan Barnhart, one of the
most challenging and fascinating people you'll ever meet.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I encourage all to listen to it. Plus he's my
kind of Christian, which that means sees like me. He
needs prayer and redemption every night because of the seventy
thousand sins I create every day. And he's still got
that New York brashness in him. You have more freedom
when you manage money compared to when you don't. Money
(03:32):
isn't money itself, isn't sinful. It's what we choose to
do with our money that can be sinful. They sacrifice
the luxuries of life in order to pay off their
debts quicker and learned how to manage money properly. It's
a challenge to keep your faith in college. There's a
lack of motivation to do things like get up and
go to church. We're talking about Brandy and Ashley. I
(03:56):
think it's stathless, right, I say, Brandon and Ashley status.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Who's that? That's MEI you what's your name?
Speaker 5 (04:07):
I'm Hannah Wigginton.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Yeah, tell me about it.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
So I thought it was really interesting because like when
they went to college, they started ministering to like freshmen
in college and me going to a college next year,
Like I'm going to Stanford University, so it's about Samford.
Really Yeah it's Alma. Yeah, I guess a little, but yeah.
I just feel like it's a good lesson for me
(04:32):
to minister to other kids in college and like help
them build their faith because I think I have a
pretty good faith. I mean I but I it was
very inspiring. And I also feel like it's crazy how
God's timing works, because like when all these friends gathered
around to give them the money. They were like they
just found out that they were pregnant. I thought that
(04:54):
was crazy, Like God's timing is so like actually insane.
So I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
It's all, it's so cool to see that if you
want exact some measure change, you don't have to start
some big five oh one C three or be part
of some big organization. You just help your neighbor and
pass it on. Did you did you? Did you feel
that as you were listening?
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:15):
I also think I took away from it like you
don't have to like have service to strangers. You can
help people like you know, like yeah for sure, like
your neighbor, like your friend, or like you don't have
to just like when you serve, it doesn't have to
be someone random like going on a mission trip, serving
someone you don't know, but it can just be like
(05:36):
the person that you are closest to who just needs help.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Absolutely true. We talk about it all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
You have to employ your passion and your discipline, what
you care about, what you're good at at areas of need.
Those areas in need may be an inner city or
in prison. That area need also maybe next door. Being
a part of army or normal folks is not a
call to be so extraordinarily big and everything and people
who do that great. But you can be part of
(06:04):
the army of normal folks by serving simply your neighbor
or your classmate or your friend. I enjoyed this podcast
due to how vulnerable and open he was with the
audience and how interesting his content was. I learned that
our God is an amazing god that can use an
ordinary guy like JT and turn him into a life changer.
(06:27):
Jt Olsen both ends.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Hi hello and Angelie Gobondo? What Angelie Gobondo?
Speaker 7 (06:33):
Hi?
Speaker 8 (06:34):
Hi?
Speaker 9 (06:35):
Go?
Speaker 10 (06:36):
Okay? So J t Olsen Those that haven't watched it.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
He came from a family and his parents both died
in a car wreck, and his aunt and uncle took
him in and he felt like he was left abandoned.
And his family consisted of five kids, four kids, and
they all moved in with his aunt and uncle without
them really knowing that it was going to happen, just
(07:00):
like took them in. And basically he went about and
helped orphans with adoption and widows. So he would get
a team of people, all volunteers and get all these
like objects and supplies from people, again all just given.
Nothing was bought to help these widows with their houses,
whatever they needed, whether it was gardening or drywall, plumbing
(07:22):
like anything, and all the money that they got from
sponsors would go towards a family to adopt, because adoption
is a lot more expensive than you'd think. It was,
about much seventy thousand dollars I believe.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Seventy to one hundred thousand dollars to a back, So
people that want to adopt don't have the money to adopt.
And instead of raising money for people to adopt, he
helped widows with houses and got sponsorships and then took
that money so other families could adopt. So he partnered
helping poor widows with fixops with adoption.
Speaker 10 (08:00):
It was like a two to one situation.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
He got two things done at one time with the
widows and with the adoptions.
Speaker 10 (08:05):
And yeah, I really could you learn from it.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
It just made me realize how like one simple action
that's happened like that's happened to you can make you
a really big deal to someone else's life. Like my
favorite quote that he said was when he was adopting
his girl grace. He said something like, why is it
so wrong to use my life savings to save a life?
And his wife wasn't one hundred percent ready to have
(08:29):
another kid because they already had four of their own.
And I thought it was really huge that he just
knew that he needed to do it and that he
prayed about it, and God was like, you need to
take what you have and what I've given you to
help someone else.
Speaker 10 (08:40):
And yeah, I just thought that was great.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Sean and Inga Arvin love City. It's fascinating how the
Lord works in our lives. I found their story motivating
for me to reach great goals. I learned to take risks.
I think they're very brave for taking the risk to
help this new community.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Hi, that's me lose you.
Speaker 10 (09:00):
I'm Katie Pearce.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Hi, how are you tell me about it?
Speaker 11 (09:03):
So this was an interview with Sewn and Inga Arvin.
And this was a couple that moved into this neighborhood
that was not very.
Speaker 10 (09:15):
Expected.
Speaker 11 (09:16):
They bought this house and ended up inheriting this community
center where they ended up taking care and welcoming of
this huge community, and it was really unexpected of them,
and it was Inga who just decided that she wanted
to move into this neighborhood, and Sean was not on
(09:39):
board with it at first because this was the neighborhood
that he would used to buy drugs from, and so
he was not really wanting to do this. But they
ended up getting that house and then making the big
risk to take in this community and.
Speaker 10 (09:53):
Help them a lot.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
What'd you learn from it?
Speaker 11 (09:56):
Definitely to take risks, and that like odd will like
work out and you can go, will work in you
in just like mysterious ways that.
Speaker 10 (10:05):
You don't even know.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
When you guys learned your elevator pitch, right, how many
seconds did you have to make the pitch?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Do you remember?
Speaker 8 (10:18):
We didn't thirty to forty that's a long elevator rod.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Four a little longer thirty to forty. Y'all are doing
well in your synopsis?
Speaker 12 (10:30):
Is?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I was just wondering because you guys are you guys
are boiling down hour and a half to three hour
podcast and do about two minutes, so I think you're
using that skill right now. That's actually really good. I
want to ask you how did you how did it
did you find the very fact that this guy used
(10:54):
to buy drugs in the neighborhood that he ended up
returning to to try to help heal. Did that have
any effect on you understanding that heart of his story.
Speaker 11 (11:04):
Yeah, I can definitely understand why he wouldn't want to
move there with all the bad memories from the drug
dealing and all that, so I can understand why he
wouldn't want to move back there. But it was really
inspiring how he took the risk and how they were
praying about it to.
Speaker 10 (11:22):
Move into this neighborhood from their past.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
We'll be right back. Eight.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Dean Angel Studio's movie Brave the Dark about his adopter
father stand Dean. The content kept me really intrigued. You
could really hear how important this was to Nate and
how much it affected his life. I'm very lucky that
I haven't had to experience anything I had to go
through I learned from this podcast asked that community and
(12:01):
family matters, whether biological or not.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Hi.
Speaker 10 (12:05):
Hi name, I'm joining Ezekiel.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Good to see you tell me about it.
Speaker 12 (12:10):
So basically, when he was five, his dad shot his
mom and then shot himself right after, and he watched
the whole thing happen, and his grandparents took him in
after like the police came and everything, but he was
had like so much trauma and he like shut down
(12:32):
that he wasn't really talking to anyone. So the grandparents
actually just ended up giving him up. And so then
he went from multiple different foster homes and then he
got a car and so then like ran away from
his foster home and just like slept in his car,
(12:52):
and then him and his friends robbed an electronics store
where they got sent to jail. And then when he
was in jail, his teacher came and visited him, and
his teacher got him out of jail, and Nate ended
up living with him after that, and his teacher just
(13:13):
made a huge impact on his life. And he was
able to live with his teacher, and like his teacher
showed him like Christmas and birthdays and gave him gifts
and like spoiled him, and he just like never experienced
anything like.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
That, and it was just and what do you do
with that experience?
Speaker 10 (13:30):
He made a movie about his life.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yep, what'd you learn from it?
Speaker 12 (13:36):
Just the impact that people can have on others.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, think about you just had a teacher tell you
that she was told to go home on weekends and
spend the night at somebody else's house because she just
wasn't even welcoming her own home on the weekends because
of this function.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Created by her mother's lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Think about when we drive down the street and we
see homes and everybody else's family, and we assume behind
the closed doors everything is perfect while we all have
trials and tribulations in our own lives and we think
we're on an island. There's this function in trauma and
difficulty in everybody's life, right, and it's how you overcome it.
(14:19):
And you're never on an island because everybody's experiencing something.
And if you're willing to be the person to step
up and interject yourself in somebody's life and help out,
you never know how deeply of an effect that can happen,
Like a speech teacher, like a football coach.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Big lessons in that story.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Charity ball fraternities are usually known for loud music parties
and drinking, but this frat wanted to make a lasting impact.
Sigma Nu has had a lasting impact not only at
Old Miss, but at other schools across the country. This
podcast taught me not to judge a book about's cover
and to always strive to respect and assist those in need.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Who wrote that that was me? Hi you? What's your name?
Garrett Rosner? What Garrett Rosner? Okay? Tell me about this?
Speaker 13 (15:10):
So basically, the Sigma Nu fraternity big frat at Old Miss.
And in nineteen eighty nine, there's a football game going
on between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and one of the
Old Miss players it was a homecoming game, so it's
a big game also, and one of the Old Miss players,
Chuckie Mullens, he was going for a play and then
he got paralyzed.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
And these two.
Speaker 13 (15:28):
Fraternity brothers saw this and they went up to Chucky
like a few days later, they're like, hey, like, is
there any way like we can raise money for people
that have like your condition to help them out. And
they were like afraid to do this at first because
they didn't like want to bother him, like annoy him,
and it's like time and knee, and he was like
of course. And so then they started this charity bowl
where these fraternities raise money for a kid and they
(15:52):
raise all the money up and then they give it
to a certain kid who has paralysis, and they keep
continuing over the years and they keep setting goals for
himself so they can keep going higher. And then I
think they reached their all time goal like in twenty
twenty two and gave away it was like three hundred
thousand dollars. It's like one kid of paralysis. And then
other schools like Mississippi State also they like uh SEC
(16:14):
schools also caught onto this and started doing their own
charity balls this year.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
The game was just played a month ago. The guys
you were listening to their game just went off a
month ago and they raised three hundred and eighty thousand
dollars a bunch of kids like you to give away
to a bunch of people like you who ended up paralyzed.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
What'd you learn from it? I thought it was really cool.
Speaker 13 (16:38):
Like fraternities always have the stigma around them, like they're like,
I don't know, it's like a fraternity, like they were
cool guys, like they party and all this stuff. But
these kids like really wanted to make a change, and
like you don't see, like you don't think of a
fraternity going out to help like some kid of paralysis,
Like you think they're like uptight like frat boys, you know.
Uh sound, but uh, these kids like really want to
(17:00):
make a lasting impact and change the stigma around the fraternis.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
I love it, Officer Tommy Norman.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And by the way, this is one of the coolest
guys I've ever interviewed my life. The ability of mister
Courtney and Tommy. So whoever wrote this, thanks because you
plugged me to connect needs no change. It's perfect and
provides heartfelt and eye opening experiences for the audience. I've
(17:28):
learned that serving your community is more than just doing
helpful things. It's the work behind the scenes protecting the community.
Who wrote that, Hi, my name is Date bliin I
wrote that, So tell me about it.
Speaker 7 (17:39):
So Officer Tommy Norman, he is a cop and he
lived in I think North Little Rock, Arkansas, and just
a lot of the things there is that he yes,
like he's an officer, but he specifically said his shift
basically never ends, and he basically wanted to be a
cop so he.
Speaker 9 (17:59):
Could get back to his community. And how he says
his shift doesn't end is when he's off shift. A
lot of the other cops, they put up their belt,
they go home and they just sit with their families
and have dinner. And all that, but he's out in
his community helping widows, buying groceries, buying a kid a
(18:20):
bicycle so he can get to school and everything. And
he says, really trying to be engaged and bring community
into one instead of being separated.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
One of the things Tommy Norman taught me is you
can be part of an army and normal folks and
serve just as a guy doing your job, just doing extra,
just going a little above and beyond and what you
do for a living. He has three goals. He wants
to be invited into your yard. Then he wants to
(18:50):
be invited onto your porch. Then he wants to be
invited into your house, because once he finally is get
invited to your house, he knows he's built.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
A relationship with you.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And this is a cop who is white in an
almost well at least a very predominantly African American community,
running around in his police car with this police uniform on,
which is typically in a community like that, the enemy
or at least someone is scary, or at least someone
(19:20):
who you're worried about, invading your personal rights, getting invited
into people's yards, onto their porch, and into their house,
and once he makes it in there, he builds relationships
with people in that community. He's considered the Michael Jordan
of community policing, and he is revered in a community
(19:42):
that popular narrative tells us is a community that hates
the police and fears them, and he has turned that
all upside down by simply having conversations with people on
their porch. Again, you don't have to be some WI
is good to have a lasting effect on so many
(20:04):
people and be a part of the army and normal folks.
It oftentimes is as easy as having a civil, non
threatening conversation. So those are the excerpts I have. I
haven't gotten all of you, but that's the excerpts I have.
What I'd like to know is someone who hasn't spoken yet.
Did the assignment and the podcast in general give you
(20:26):
any new thoughts or notions about volunteering, generosity or something
that you might be encouraged to involve yourself in. Anybody,
I know, I haven't heard from you. Hi, what's your name?
Speaker 10 (20:42):
I'm Chrystal Pierre Luis.
Speaker 14 (20:44):
So I didn't listen to an Army Folks podcast, but
from all the discussion around has really interested me. I'm
in Wilson's Society, the volunteer club here, community work, and
recently I went Madonna, what's it?
Speaker 4 (21:01):
What's what Wilson?
Speaker 10 (21:02):
Yes, Wilson Society part of that.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yes, Okay, stop because I'm gonna let you talk about it.
Don't go anywhere. Here we go.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So that's a great segue. Perfect you did. Well, you're
not a plant either. But there's this thing. Actually, why
don't you explain what the Wilson thing is and then
we'll go back to you and I want to hear
about your involvement in it.
Speaker 8 (21:23):
And we have several in here that are in Wilson Society.
So Wilson Society is a service club on our campus.
There's about two hundred members and they select projects that
they're going to do each semester.
Speaker 10 (21:36):
It varies.
Speaker 8 (21:37):
The officers and the students decide what they're going to do.
They can write a grant up to one thousand dollars
through the Kimmins Wilson Family Foundation and they will give
them money to do their project. So the projects are selected.
If you have something that's going to cost money, you
have to make a budget, make the plan, and then
Wilson Society will provide you the people you know to
(21:57):
make it work. So student get involved. They can lead
a project. We've got a few in here that have
actually written the grant led a project, and then others
come alongside. They can do a hands on, they can
do a donation, and then we support Orange Mound through
a variety of separate things that we do as well.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
So with that as a background, tell me about what
you've done.
Speaker 14 (22:19):
Okay, So recently I went to the school Madonna And
what is Madonna? Madonna? Yes, so Madonna is a school
with kids with disabilities and things like autism and down syndrome,
And a group of us went last week to spend
time with them and like kind of like a summer
(22:41):
like diving into summer type of things. So there was
bouncy houses and coloring and stickers and popcorn and candy
and although there was kids as young as like three
or three, and there were adults. And so the first
round we had adults and they were really sweet and
(23:01):
me and my classmate we did like this ball toss
and like some of them wouldn't you know, they didn't
want to like play with us, but just being like, hey,
how you doing, Like just like making them feel welcomed
as we're they're welcoming us, serving with them and playing
with them, even though you know, we don't deal with
the same things that they do deal with. And again
(23:22):
with the kids too, just being like, oh, you're your
no policy looks really pretty or your hair looks really pretty,
and just you know, serving with them and spending time
and having fun with them was truly an experience I
really loved.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Your teacher sitting on my left over here, Jenny, oh sorry,
miss whatever you're supposed to be called, says I love
what you're doing. She loves the podcast. Obviously she would
have made you guys do this assignment if she didn't,
But she said, I hope we're building an army of
(24:12):
normal teenagers. That's what she wants to do through this class,
through this process, through listening to the podcast, through all
of this stuff, would anybody say they've had a changed
or heightened awareness at all of the importance of community
(24:33):
involvement service?
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Anybody want to talk about that?
Speaker 6 (24:37):
So I actually sorry, Angelae Covonde, there you go. I
helped write one of the grants this year for one
of the projects for Wilson Society, and it had to
do with Christmas. And I just never thought about Christmas
not having gifts, like obviously addition to the christ part
of it, but like having gifts was just is normal
to me. Like I've been very blessed. I have parents
(24:58):
are still together, like I'm an only child, so I've been.
Speaker 10 (25:00):
Very very blessed.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
And this year, when I was doing the grant, it
made me realize, like there are kids that are just
walking around that don't understand the joy of Christmas or.
Speaker 10 (25:09):
Get gifts at all.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
So part of that grant was we get specified kids
that ask for certain things, and we get a red
tub and we fill it with all the things that
they asked for that we can get with the money
that we raise. And another part of it is Briarcrest
donates toys and Teddy Bears.
Speaker 10 (25:27):
And little race cars and stuff just in general.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
And we have a back room that all the kids
can just walk through and grab a gift. And I
didn't get to go to the event. I was taking
the act, but I saw pictures and like the joy
that these kids get just seeing gifts that they've never
seen before was something that truly changed my outlook on
how blessed I really am?
Speaker 8 (25:51):
Or little backdrop on red tub. It's for foster children.
So all eight hundred plus foster children each get a
red tub the Memphis Family Connection Center, and so we
sponsored four tubs through Wilson Society. And those tubs also
pay for their therapeutic care for the year, so if
they need psychological or anything else, that also covers it.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
I want to leave you guys with one thought. It's
time to get y'all back to class. I know y'all
can't wait to get back to class and air conditioning,
and in fairness, you know this is probably better and
sitting class at least. But here we go. Who has
heard the turkey person explanation? Okay, well, I'm going to
(26:38):
give it to all of you.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
As you.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Think about what you've listened to, and as you think
about this discussion, and as you ponder, hopefully what can
I do as richly blessed as each of you are.
It's not a nice thing to do something kind of
a requirement, kind of a requirement of the blessings you
(27:04):
have to give back in some way. But fair warning,
it comes with it comes with a set of rules.
That will reveal themselves to you as you get involved.
(27:26):
It is not easy, it is fraught with misunderstanding, but
it's worth the effort. My first year, when I showed
up at Manassas High School, there were seventeen kids on
the team and they'd won four games.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
And ten years. Four games in ten years. That's bad.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I mean, I know you're not good at math, but
wouldn't you say that's and that's pretty rough? Pretty bad?
Seventeen kids four ninety five. So my first year I
was their seven. My first year, halfway through the season
were three and three. Now, I think three and three
is pretty average, but when you've won four games in
(28:12):
ten years, they think three and three. You know, I'm
kind of like a fat headed, redheaded version Elane Kiffin
or somebody they were buying in.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Well.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
When I first got to Manassis, obviously I had to
start coaching football basics, right, But as we started coaching football,
I also learned we had to coach a lot of
other things. Somebody opened the table of contents and the
book in front of you. Somebody hand that person the microphone.
Would you just read the chapters loudly?
Speaker 15 (28:44):
So Chapter one on the value of character Chapter two,
The meaning of commitment.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Chapter three.
Speaker 15 (28:52):
Daring to leave your comfort zone for service is not
someone else's job. Five How leaders are defined. Six the
search of the search for civility. Seven, the power of dreams. Eight,
The relationship between fear and fortitude. Nine, perseverance never takes
(29:12):
a break. Ten, the dignity of hard work. Eleven, standing
on a firm foundation. Twelve, responsibility for the talk taking
thirteen grace appears in a forgiving heart, and fourteen the
gift of a legacy.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We started teaching that too.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
We realized we had to coach the basics.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
So halfway through the season, we're three and three. We're
coaching football.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
We're coaching that stuff, and half the team was buying in. Now,
the whole team was buying into the football. Yes or
no so are on the football field. But the minute
football was over, only half the team was buying into
that stuff. The other half the team, while yes or
no so are on the football field, they were getting
back in the streets after games and practices engage in
(30:00):
the same behavior that got them to four wins in
ninety five's metaphorically in life as well as football film.
So I was frustrated. Every coach has a guy. So
I went to my guy and I said, hey, man,
what do I gotta do?
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Y'all are yes or no, sir? Everything's good on.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Football, but the important stuff only half of you are
buying them. What do I got to do to get
the other half that team to buy into the important stuff?
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Like you're half the team.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
And this guy, who I had real conversations with, who
I knew would tell me the truth, looked at me
and said, all coach, just keep doing what you're doing dismissively.
You know how y'all talk to your parents when they
tell you something you don't want to hear. You know, yes, sir,
yes ma'am, but in your mind you're thinking, nah, you
(30:48):
know that right? That was the response, and I'm like, no, man,
real talk. And he said, Coach, I don't want to
hurt your feelings. I said, man, you're not going to
hurt my feelings, but I need to understand and while
that half the team ain't buying an important stuff like
here after him, he said, all right, coach, real talk.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
I said, real talk.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
He said, Coach, they're just trying to figure out if
you're a Turkey person.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
Or not. And I said, what are you talking about? Man?
He said, Coach.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas people roll into our neighborhoods and
they give us hands and turkeys and gifts, and we
take them because we ain't got none. But then they
leave and we never see them again. Makes you wonder
if they're doing that because they really care about us,
or that they're doing that to make themselves feel good.
I know I'm in a Christian school, but I'm going
(31:37):
to quote this exactly how he said it. He looked
me dead and as they said, coach, really, what the
hell are you doing here? I want to challenge you
guys to think about something. It's not enough to show
up once. Because when you show up once and leave
the type of people that you're in, type of communities
(31:59):
that you're going in to serve, that is very common.
What is uncommon, what matters, what will have a lasting impact.
It's consistency is going back over and over and over
again and being uncommon. The other thing is this, don't
(32:22):
allow yourself to engage because you like the way that
it makes you feel. Don't allow yourself to engage because
when people hear about the work you're doing, the backslaps
and the congratulations, and the people in your orbit think
of you in a better way because of the work
(32:43):
you're doing. Because if you are doing it, because you
are getting something out of it personally from your peer group,
you are, in fact a turkey person, and a turkey
person's a fraud. You don't serve so that exalts you.
You serve so that it exults someone not as blessed
(33:05):
as you, and you do it consistently.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
And if you do that, you are uncommon.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
And uncommon people are what makes the army of normal
folks go. So I challenge you as you go off
to college, as you go off and become adults, this
weird assignment that you didn't want to do. My biggest
(33:35):
hope for you, guys is your biggest takeaway is be uncommon,
be uncommon, and grow the army in normal folks.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
I'm going to leave it with you at your class closes.
Speaker 8 (33:50):
I'm very proud of how well they did today.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
They did a great job.
Speaker 8 (33:55):
Thank you so much for sharing with them. I think
it's been more enlightening than they probably thought it would be,
and they've learned a lot about themselves through the podcast
and what they can do in the future. So thank
you for your podcast that could open the eyes of
even teenagers.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
I hope that did.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
We're signing off from Briercrest High School in Memphis, Tennessee,
where there's a room full of kids who, at the
best of the teacher hopefully has.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Grown and wants to join the ranks of the Army
of Normal Folks. Kids.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Thanks for being here, I appreciate it very much. Well done,
and thank you for joining us this week. If Teacher
Jenny has inspired you in general, or better yet, to
take action by using an Army of Normal Folks with
your classroom, recommending it to your school, or using it
(34:48):
with your own kids, please let me know. I'd love
to hear about it. You can write me anytime at
Bill at normalfolks dot us, and I promise you I
will respond. We may and do an episode with your classroom.
And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with
friends and on social subscribe to the podcast, rate and
(35:09):
review it. Join the Army at normalfolks dot us, consider
becoming a premium member. There any and all of these
things that will help us grow an Army of normal Folks.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do what you can
Hey, everybody's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.
And we continue now a part two of our conversation
with jennyman Juno in her class at Briarc Christian School
right after these brief messages from our general sponsors. Bob
(00:30):
is very easy to listen to because he's honest and
speaks from the heart. He talked about his mistakes and
what he's learned. He doesn't try to act like a hero. Instead,
he just seems like a regular guy, army and normal
folks who decided to care, which makes the podcast more
powerful and relatable. This podcast taught me that one person
(00:51):
really can make a difference. Bob didn't wait for someone
else to fix things. He took action. Who's that okay?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Brome Zachary Pierce Zach. So, Yeah, this podcast was really
touching because he talks about how people get into, you know,
bad situations because they have nothing else to fill their
time with. So that's why he created the rec Baseball
League in Chicago, in the inner city of Chicago, and
so it's just it's shocking to see, you know, how
(01:19):
just even free time can lead to these bad decisions
and just a simple thing as baseball, and he also
built a high school there as well. So just even
something as simple as a sport can keep them out
of jail.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Did you find him half as funny as I did?
That guy's awesome, didn't he? Yes, listen, guys, no more assignments.
I know it's a podcast, but if you want to laugh,
listen to that podcast because this dude is hilarious. And
by the way, sitting with them, Alex, what was he he?
(01:56):
What was a little bit of background on Bob because
he's so funny.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
You got to keep saying these people's full names. So
it's Bob Mazakowski or whatever.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
What did I tell you about producers correcting me being
a butt head?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
It's pretty basic, isn't a guy?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So he was actually an addict in New York City,
which is fun. So he was like playing rugby in
New York City. And do you remember the story? You
can feel for it to tell if you want. All right,
So he literally like gets kicked out of the game
and he's got a sippy cup full of cocaine that
he's using. And then this pastor also gets kicked out
of the game and he offers him some coke and
(02:33):
he had no idea. The guy was pastor. What does
this guy doing playing rugby as a pastor? And this
guy invited him to his church in Times Square, and
that really fascinating church that had you know, wealthy people
in suits and homeless people going to church together, you know,
and dining together after. And this guy helped make him
a Christian. And Bob ended up intentionally ultimately moving into
the inner city himself too. And I don't think everybody's
(02:56):
necessarily called to do that, but he does put a
good challenge of where ward Christ is where you live
in these mcnanions in the suburbs, or would be living
with the people.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
In the city.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And so he's also, like Alan Barnhart, one of the
most challenging and fascinating people you'll ever meet.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I encourage all to listen to it. Plus he's my
kind of Christian, which that means sees like me. He
needs prayer and redemption every night because of the seventy
thousand sins I create every day. And he's still got
that New York brashness in him. You have more freedom
when you manage money compared to when you don't. Money
(03:32):
isn't money itself, isn't sinful. It's what we choose to
do with our money that can be sinful. They sacrifice
the luxuries of life in order to pay off their
debts quicker and learned how to manage money properly. It's
a challenge to keep your faith in college. There's a
lack of motivation to do things like get up and
go to church. We're talking about Brandy and Ashley. I
(03:56):
think it's stathless, right, I say, Brandon and Ashley status.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Who's that? That's MEI you what's your name?
Speaker 5 (04:07):
I'm Hannah Wigginton.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Yeah, tell me about it.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
So I thought it was really interesting because like when
they went to college, they started ministering to like freshmen
in college and me going to a college next year,
Like I'm going to Stanford University, so it's about Samford.
Really Yeah it's Alma. Yeah, I guess a little, but yeah.
I just feel like it's a good lesson for me
(04:32):
to minister to other kids in college and like help
them build their faith because I think I have a
pretty good faith. I mean I but I it was
very inspiring. And I also feel like it's crazy how
God's timing works, because like when all these friends gathered
around to give them the money. They were like they
just found out that they were pregnant. I thought that
(04:54):
was crazy, Like God's timing is so like actually insane.
So I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
It's all, it's so cool to see that if you
want exact some measure change, you don't have to start
some big five oh one C three or be part
of some big organization. You just help your neighbor and
pass it on. Did you did you? Did you feel
that as you were listening?
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:15):
I also think I took away from it like you
don't have to like have service to strangers. You can
help people like you know, like yeah for sure, like
your neighbor, like your friend, or like you don't have
to just like when you serve, it doesn't have to
be someone random like going on a mission trip, serving
someone you don't know, but it can just be like
(05:36):
the person that you are closest to who just needs help.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Absolutely true. We talk about it all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
You have to employ your passion and your discipline, what
you care about, what you're good at at areas of need.
Those areas in need may be an inner city or
in prison. That area need also maybe next door. Being
a part of army or normal folks is not a
call to be so extraordinarily big and everything and people
who do that great. But you can be part of
(06:04):
the army of normal folks by serving simply your neighbor
or your classmate or your friend. I enjoyed this podcast
due to how vulnerable and open he was with the
audience and how interesting his content was. I learned that
our God is an amazing god that can use an
ordinary guy like JT and turn him into a life changer.
(06:27):
Jt Olsen both ends.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Hi hello and Angelie Gobondo? What Angelie Gobondo?
Speaker 7 (06:33):
Hi?
Speaker 8 (06:34):
Hi?
Speaker 9 (06:35):
Go?
Speaker 10 (06:36):
Okay? So J t Olsen Those that haven't watched it.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
He came from a family and his parents both died
in a car wreck, and his aunt and uncle took
him in and he felt like he was left abandoned.
And his family consisted of five kids, four kids, and
they all moved in with his aunt and uncle without
them really knowing that it was going to happen, just
(07:00):
like took them in. And basically he went about and
helped orphans with adoption and widows. So he would get
a team of people, all volunteers and get all these
like objects and supplies from people, again all just given.
Nothing was bought to help these widows with their houses,
whatever they needed, whether it was gardening or drywall, plumbing
(07:22):
like anything, and all the money that they got from
sponsors would go towards a family to adopt, because adoption
is a lot more expensive than you'd think. It was,
about much seventy thousand dollars I believe.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Seventy to one hundred thousand dollars to a back, So
people that want to adopt don't have the money to adopt.
And instead of raising money for people to adopt, he
helped widows with houses and got sponsorships and then took
that money so other families could adopt. So he partnered
helping poor widows with fixops with adoption.
Speaker 10 (08:00):
It was like a two to one situation.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
He got two things done at one time with the
widows and with the adoptions.
Speaker 10 (08:05):
And yeah, I really could you learn from it.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
It just made me realize how like one simple action
that's happened like that's happened to you can make you
a really big deal to someone else's life. Like my
favorite quote that he said was when he was adopting
his girl grace. He said something like, why is it
so wrong to use my life savings to save a life?
And his wife wasn't one hundred percent ready to have
(08:29):
another kid because they already had four of their own.
And I thought it was really huge that he just
knew that he needed to do it and that he
prayed about it, and God was like, you need to
take what you have and what I've given you to
help someone else.
Speaker 10 (08:40):
And yeah, I just thought that was great.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Sean and Inga Arvin love City. It's fascinating how the
Lord works in our lives. I found their story motivating
for me to reach great goals. I learned to take risks.
I think they're very brave for taking the risk to
help this new community.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Hi, that's me lose you.
Speaker 10 (09:00):
I'm Katie Pearce.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Hi, how are you tell me about it?
Speaker 11 (09:03):
So this was an interview with Sewn and Inga Arvin.
And this was a couple that moved into this neighborhood
that was not very.
Speaker 10 (09:15):
Expected.
Speaker 11 (09:16):
They bought this house and ended up inheriting this community
center where they ended up taking care and welcoming of
this huge community, and it was really unexpected of them,
and it was Inga who just decided that she wanted
to move into this neighborhood, and Sean was not on
(09:39):
board with it at first because this was the neighborhood
that he would used to buy drugs from, and so
he was not really wanting to do this. But they
ended up getting that house and then making the big
risk to take in this community and.
Speaker 10 (09:53):
Help them a lot.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
What'd you learn from it?
Speaker 11 (09:56):
Definitely to take risks, and that like odd will like
work out and you can go, will work in you
in just like mysterious ways that.
Speaker 10 (10:05):
You don't even know.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
When you guys learned your elevator pitch, right, how many
seconds did you have to make the pitch?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Do you remember?
Speaker 8 (10:18):
We didn't thirty to forty that's a long elevator rod.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Four a little longer thirty to forty. Y'all are doing
well in your synopsis?
Speaker 12 (10:30):
Is?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I was just wondering because you guys are you guys
are boiling down hour and a half to three hour
podcast and do about two minutes, so I think you're
using that skill right now. That's actually really good. I
want to ask you how did you how did it
did you find the very fact that this guy used
(10:54):
to buy drugs in the neighborhood that he ended up
returning to to try to help heal. Did that have
any effect on you understanding that heart of his story.
Speaker 11 (11:04):
Yeah, I can definitely understand why he wouldn't want to
move there with all the bad memories from the drug
dealing and all that, so I can understand why he
wouldn't want to move back there. But it was really
inspiring how he took the risk and how they were
praying about it to.
Speaker 10 (11:22):
Move into this neighborhood from their past.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
We'll be right back. Eight.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Dean Angel Studio's movie Brave the Dark about his adopter
father stand Dean. The content kept me really intrigued. You
could really hear how important this was to Nate and
how much it affected his life. I'm very lucky that
I haven't had to experience anything I had to go
through I learned from this podcast asked that community and
(12:01):
family matters, whether biological or not.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Hi.
Speaker 10 (12:05):
Hi name, I'm joining Ezekiel.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Good to see you tell me about it.
Speaker 12 (12:10):
So basically, when he was five, his dad shot his
mom and then shot himself right after, and he watched
the whole thing happen, and his grandparents took him in
after like the police came and everything, but he was
had like so much trauma and he like shut down
(12:32):
that he wasn't really talking to anyone. So the grandparents
actually just ended up giving him up. And so then
he went from multiple different foster homes and then he
got a car and so then like ran away from
his foster home and just like slept in his car,
(12:52):
and then him and his friends robbed an electronics store
where they got sent to jail. And then when he
was in jail, his teacher came and visited him, and
his teacher got him out of jail, and Nate ended
up living with him after that, and his teacher just
(13:13):
made a huge impact on his life. And he was
able to live with his teacher, and like his teacher
showed him like Christmas and birthdays and gave him gifts
and like spoiled him, and he just like never experienced
anything like.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
That, and it was just and what do you do
with that experience?
Speaker 10 (13:30):
He made a movie about his life.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yep, what'd you learn from it?
Speaker 12 (13:36):
Just the impact that people can have on others.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, think about you just had a teacher tell you
that she was told to go home on weekends and
spend the night at somebody else's house because she just
wasn't even welcoming her own home on the weekends because
of this function.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Created by her mother's lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Think about when we drive down the street and we
see homes and everybody else's family, and we assume behind
the closed doors everything is perfect while we all have
trials and tribulations in our own lives and we think
we're on an island. There's this function in trauma and
difficulty in everybody's life, right, and it's how you overcome it.
(14:19):
And you're never on an island because everybody's experiencing something.
And if you're willing to be the person to step
up and interject yourself in somebody's life and help out,
you never know how deeply of an effect that can happen,
Like a speech teacher, like a football coach.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Big lessons in that story.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Charity ball fraternities are usually known for loud music parties
and drinking, but this frat wanted to make a lasting impact.
Sigma Nu has had a lasting impact not only at
Old Miss, but at other schools across the country. This
podcast taught me not to judge a book about's cover
and to always strive to respect and assist those in need.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Who wrote that that was me? Hi you? What's your name?
Garrett Rosner? What Garrett Rosner? Okay? Tell me about this?
Speaker 13 (15:10):
So basically, the Sigma Nu fraternity big frat at Old Miss.
And in nineteen eighty nine, there's a football game going
on between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and one of the
Old Miss players it was a homecoming game, so it's
a big game also, and one of the Old Miss players,
Chuckie Mullens, he was going for a play and then
he got paralyzed.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
And these two.
Speaker 13 (15:28):
Fraternity brothers saw this and they went up to Chucky
like a few days later, they're like, hey, like, is
there any way like we can raise money for people
that have like your condition to help them out. And
they were like afraid to do this at first because
they didn't like want to bother him, like annoy him,
and it's like time and knee, and he was like
of course. And so then they started this charity bowl
where these fraternities raise money for a kid and they
(15:52):
raise all the money up and then they give it
to a certain kid who has paralysis, and they keep
continuing over the years and they keep setting goals for
himself so they can keep going higher. And then I
think they reached their all time goal like in twenty
twenty two and gave away it was like three hundred
thousand dollars. It's like one kid of paralysis. And then
other schools like Mississippi State also they like uh SEC
(16:14):
schools also caught onto this and started doing their own
charity balls this year.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
The game was just played a month ago. The guys
you were listening to their game just went off a
month ago and they raised three hundred and eighty thousand
dollars a bunch of kids like you to give away
to a bunch of people like you who ended up paralyzed.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
What'd you learn from it? I thought it was really cool.
Speaker 13 (16:38):
Like fraternities always have the stigma around them, like they're like,
I don't know, it's like a fraternity, like they were
cool guys, like they party and all this stuff. But
these kids like really wanted to make a change, and
like you don't see, like you don't think of a
fraternity going out to help like some kid of paralysis,
Like you think they're like uptight like frat boys, you know.
Uh sound, but uh, these kids like really want to
(17:00):
make a lasting impact and change the stigma around the fraternis.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
I love it, Officer Tommy Norman.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And by the way, this is one of the coolest
guys I've ever interviewed my life. The ability of mister
Courtney and Tommy. So whoever wrote this, thanks because you
plugged me to connect needs no change. It's perfect and
provides heartfelt and eye opening experiences for the audience. I've
(17:28):
learned that serving your community is more than just doing
helpful things. It's the work behind the scenes protecting the community.
Who wrote that, Hi, my name is Date bliin I
wrote that, So tell me about it.
Speaker 7 (17:39):
So Officer Tommy Norman, he is a cop and he
lived in I think North Little Rock, Arkansas, and just
a lot of the things there is that he yes,
like he's an officer, but he specifically said his shift
basically never ends, and he basically wanted to be a
cop so he.
Speaker 9 (17:59):
Could get back to his community. And how he says
his shift doesn't end is when he's off shift. A
lot of the other cops, they put up their belt,
they go home and they just sit with their families
and have dinner. And all that, but he's out in
his community helping widows, buying groceries, buying a kid a
(18:20):
bicycle so he can get to school and everything. And
he says, really trying to be engaged and bring community
into one instead of being separated.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
One of the things Tommy Norman taught me is you
can be part of an army and normal folks and
serve just as a guy doing your job, just doing extra,
just going a little above and beyond and what you
do for a living. He has three goals. He wants
to be invited into your yard. Then he wants to
(18:50):
be invited onto your porch. Then he wants to be
invited into your house, because once he finally is get
invited to your house, he knows he's built.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
A relationship with you.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And this is a cop who is white in an
almost well at least a very predominantly African American community,
running around in his police car with this police uniform on,
which is typically in a community like that, the enemy
or at least someone is scary, or at least someone
(19:20):
who you're worried about, invading your personal rights, getting invited
into people's yards, onto their porch, and into their house,
and once he makes it in there, he builds relationships
with people in that community. He's considered the Michael Jordan
of community policing, and he is revered in a community
(19:42):
that popular narrative tells us is a community that hates
the police and fears them, and he has turned that
all upside down by simply having conversations with people on
their porch. Again, you don't have to be some WI
is good to have a lasting effect on so many
(20:04):
people and be a part of the army and normal folks.
It oftentimes is as easy as having a civil, non
threatening conversation. So those are the excerpts I have. I
haven't gotten all of you, but that's the excerpts I have.
What I'd like to know is someone who hasn't spoken yet.
Did the assignment and the podcast in general give you
(20:26):
any new thoughts or notions about volunteering, generosity or something
that you might be encouraged to involve yourself in. Anybody,
I know, I haven't heard from you. Hi, what's your name?
Speaker 10 (20:42):
I'm Chrystal Pierre Luis.
Speaker 14 (20:44):
So I didn't listen to an Army Folks podcast, but
from all the discussion around has really interested me. I'm
in Wilson's Society, the volunteer club here, community work, and
recently I went Madonna, what's it?
Speaker 4 (21:01):
What's what Wilson?
Speaker 10 (21:02):
Yes, Wilson Society part of that.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yes, Okay, stop because I'm gonna let you talk about it.
Don't go anywhere. Here we go.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So that's a great segue. Perfect you did. Well, you're
not a plant either. But there's this thing. Actually, why
don't you explain what the Wilson thing is and then
we'll go back to you and I want to hear
about your involvement in it.
Speaker 8 (21:23):
And we have several in here that are in Wilson Society.
So Wilson Society is a service club on our campus.
There's about two hundred members and they select projects that
they're going to do each semester.
Speaker 10 (21:36):
It varies.
Speaker 8 (21:37):
The officers and the students decide what they're going to do.
They can write a grant up to one thousand dollars
through the Kimmins Wilson Family Foundation and they will give
them money to do their project. So the projects are selected.
If you have something that's going to cost money, you
have to make a budget, make the plan, and then
Wilson Society will provide you the people you know to
(21:57):
make it work. So student get involved. They can lead
a project. We've got a few in here that have
actually written the grant led a project, and then others
come alongside. They can do a hands on, they can
do a donation, and then we support Orange Mound through
a variety of separate things that we do as well.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
So with that as a background, tell me about what
you've done.
Speaker 14 (22:19):
Okay, So recently I went to the school Madonna And
what is Madonna? Madonna? Yes, so Madonna is a school
with kids with disabilities and things like autism and down syndrome,
And a group of us went last week to spend
time with them and like kind of like a summer
(22:41):
like diving into summer type of things. So there was
bouncy houses and coloring and stickers and popcorn and candy
and although there was kids as young as like three
or three, and there were adults. And so the first
round we had adults and they were really sweet and
(23:01):
me and my classmate we did like this ball toss
and like some of them wouldn't you know, they didn't
want to like play with us, but just being like, hey,
how you doing, Like just like making them feel welcomed
as we're they're welcoming us, serving with them and playing
with them, even though you know, we don't deal with
the same things that they do deal with. And again
(23:22):
with the kids too, just being like, oh, you're your
no policy looks really pretty or your hair looks really pretty,
and just you know, serving with them and spending time
and having fun with them was truly an experience I
really loved.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Your teacher sitting on my left over here, Jenny, oh sorry,
miss whatever you're supposed to be called, says I love
what you're doing. She loves the podcast. Obviously she would
have made you guys do this assignment if she didn't,
But she said, I hope we're building an army of
(24:12):
normal teenagers. That's what she wants to do through this class,
through this process, through listening to the podcast, through all
of this stuff, would anybody say they've had a changed
or heightened awareness at all of the importance of community
(24:33):
involvement service?
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Anybody want to talk about that?
Speaker 6 (24:37):
So I actually sorry, Angelae Covonde, there you go. I
helped write one of the grants this year for one
of the projects for Wilson Society, and it had to
do with Christmas. And I just never thought about Christmas
not having gifts, like obviously addition to the christ part
of it, but like having gifts was just is normal
to me. Like I've been very blessed. I have parents
(24:58):
are still together, like I'm an only child, so I've been.
Speaker 10 (25:00):
Very very blessed.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
And this year, when I was doing the grant, it
made me realize, like there are kids that are just
walking around that don't understand the joy of Christmas or.
Speaker 10 (25:09):
Get gifts at all.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
So part of that grant was we get specified kids
that ask for certain things, and we get a red
tub and we fill it with all the things that
they asked for that we can get with the money
that we raise. And another part of it is Briarcrest
donates toys and Teddy Bears.
Speaker 10 (25:27):
And little race cars and stuff just in general.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
And we have a back room that all the kids
can just walk through and grab a gift. And I
didn't get to go to the event. I was taking
the act, but I saw pictures and like the joy
that these kids get just seeing gifts that they've never
seen before was something that truly changed my outlook on
how blessed I really am?
Speaker 8 (25:51):
Or little backdrop on red tub. It's for foster children.
So all eight hundred plus foster children each get a
red tub the Memphis Family Connection Center, and so we
sponsored four tubs through Wilson Society. And those tubs also
pay for their therapeutic care for the year, so if
they need psychological or anything else, that also covers it.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
I want to leave you guys with one thought. It's
time to get y'all back to class. I know y'all
can't wait to get back to class and air conditioning,
and in fairness, you know this is probably better and
sitting class at least. But here we go. Who has
heard the turkey person explanation? Okay, well, I'm going to
(26:38):
give it to all of you.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
As you.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Think about what you've listened to, and as you think
about this discussion, and as you ponder, hopefully what can
I do as richly blessed as each of you are.
It's not a nice thing to do something kind of
a requirement, kind of a requirement of the blessings you
(27:04):
have to give back in some way. But fair warning,
it comes with it comes with a set of rules.
That will reveal themselves to you as you get involved.
(27:26):
It is not easy, it is fraught with misunderstanding, but
it's worth the effort. My first year, when I showed
up at Manassas High School, there were seventeen kids on
the team and they'd won four games.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
And ten years. Four games in ten years. That's bad.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I mean, I know you're not good at math, but
wouldn't you say that's and that's pretty rough? Pretty bad?
Seventeen kids four ninety five. So my first year I
was their seven. My first year, halfway through the season
were three and three. Now, I think three and three
is pretty average, but when you've won four games in
(28:12):
ten years, they think three and three. You know, I'm
kind of like a fat headed, redheaded version Elane Kiffin
or somebody they were buying in.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Well.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
When I first got to Manassis, obviously I had to
start coaching football basics, right, But as we started coaching football,
I also learned we had to coach a lot of
other things. Somebody opened the table of contents and the
book in front of you. Somebody hand that person the microphone.
Would you just read the chapters loudly?
Speaker 15 (28:44):
So Chapter one on the value of character Chapter two,
The meaning of commitment.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Chapter three.
Speaker 15 (28:52):
Daring to leave your comfort zone for service is not
someone else's job. Five How leaders are defined. Six the
search of the search for civility. Seven, the power of dreams. Eight,
The relationship between fear and fortitude. Nine, perseverance never takes
(29:12):
a break. Ten, the dignity of hard work. Eleven, standing
on a firm foundation. Twelve, responsibility for the talk taking
thirteen grace appears in a forgiving heart, and fourteen the
gift of a legacy.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We started teaching that too.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
We realized we had to coach the basics.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
So halfway through the season, we're three and three. We're
coaching football.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
We're coaching that stuff, and half the team was buying in. Now,
the whole team was buying into the football. Yes or
no so are on the football field. But the minute
football was over, only half the team was buying into
that stuff. The other half the team, while yes or
no so are on the football field, they were getting
back in the streets after games and practices engage in
(30:00):
the same behavior that got them to four wins in
ninety five's metaphorically in life as well as football film.
So I was frustrated. Every coach has a guy. So
I went to my guy and I said, hey, man,
what do I gotta do?
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Y'all are yes or no, sir? Everything's good on.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Football, but the important stuff only half of you are
buying them. What do I got to do to get
the other half that team to buy into the important stuff?
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Like you're half the team.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
And this guy, who I had real conversations with, who
I knew would tell me the truth, looked at me
and said, all coach, just keep doing what you're doing dismissively.
You know how y'all talk to your parents when they
tell you something you don't want to hear. You know, yes, sir,
yes ma'am, but in your mind you're thinking, nah, you
(30:48):
know that right? That was the response, and I'm like, no, man,
real talk. And he said, Coach, I don't want to
hurt your feelings. I said, man, you're not going to
hurt my feelings, but I need to understand and while
that half the team ain't buying an important stuff like
here after him, he said, all right, coach, real talk.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
I said, real talk.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
He said, Coach, they're just trying to figure out if
you're a Turkey person.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
Or not. And I said, what are you talking about? Man?
He said, Coach.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas people roll into our neighborhoods and
they give us hands and turkeys and gifts, and we
take them because we ain't got none. But then they
leave and we never see them again. Makes you wonder
if they're doing that because they really care about us,
or that they're doing that to make themselves feel good.
I know I'm in a Christian school, but I'm going
(31:37):
to quote this exactly how he said it. He looked
me dead and as they said, coach, really, what the
hell are you doing here? I want to challenge you
guys to think about something. It's not enough to show
up once. Because when you show up once and leave
the type of people that you're in, type of communities
(31:59):
that you're going in to serve, that is very common.
What is uncommon, what matters, what will have a lasting impact.
It's consistency is going back over and over and over
again and being uncommon. The other thing is this, don't
(32:22):
allow yourself to engage because you like the way that
it makes you feel. Don't allow yourself to engage because
when people hear about the work you're doing, the backslaps
and the congratulations, and the people in your orbit think
of you in a better way because of the work
(32:43):
you're doing. Because if you are doing it, because you
are getting something out of it personally from your peer group,
you are, in fact a turkey person, and a turkey
person's a fraud. You don't serve so that exalts you.
You serve so that it exults someone not as blessed
(33:05):
as you, and you do it consistently.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
And if you do that, you are uncommon.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
And uncommon people are what makes the army of normal
folks go. So I challenge you as you go off
to college, as you go off and become adults, this
weird assignment that you didn't want to do. My biggest
(33:35):
hope for you, guys is your biggest takeaway is be uncommon,
be uncommon, and grow the army in normal folks.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
I'm going to leave it with you at your class closes.
Speaker 8 (33:50):
I'm very proud of how well they did today.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
They did a great job.
Speaker 8 (33:55):
Thank you so much for sharing with them. I think
it's been more enlightening than they probably thought it would be,
and they've learned a lot about themselves through the podcast
and what they can do in the future. So thank
you for your podcast that could open the eyes of
even teenagers.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
I hope that did.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
We're signing off from Briercrest High School in Memphis, Tennessee,
where there's a room full of kids who, at the
best of the teacher hopefully has.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Grown and wants to join the ranks of the Army
of Normal Folks. Kids.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Thanks for being here, I appreciate it very much. Well done,
and thank you for joining us this week. If Teacher
Jenny has inspired you in general, or better yet, to
take action by using an Army of Normal Folks with
your classroom, recommending it to your school, or using it
(34:48):
with your own kids, please let me know. I'd love
to hear about it. You can write me anytime at
Bill at normalfolks dot us, and I promise you I
will respond. We may and do an episode with your classroom.
And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with
friends and on social subscribe to the podcast, rate and
(35:09):
review it. Join the Army at normalfolks dot us, consider
becoming a premium member. There any and all of these
things that will help us grow an Army of normal Folks.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do what you can
Host
Bill Courtney
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