Project 24: The Jared Williams Story

Friday, January 21, 2011

Project 24: The Jared Williams Story

In October of 2009, Jared Williams, a defensive back for Pinkston High School in West Dallas, was paralyzed at the age of 14 in a game against North Dallas High School.

"I never thought this would happen to me but it did. I don't know my purpose in life. Only God knows."

Jared is the son of Arlenna Williams, a single mother and teaching assistant at Pinkston High School. "I got a phone call from the coach ... Jared had an accident .. That's all he's ever wanted to do was play football .. He is my first born."

"Project 24 began with wanting to bless this family ... We're going to get every school child to give us 24 cents and we're going to build him a home."

Jared's story was mentioned today in the Dallas Observer - Unfair Park.

See Unfair Park - A Sneak Peek at Web Doc About How Jared Williams's Injury Changed an Entire Community

Video - You Plus Dallas

A Teacher's Creed

"In the classroom on the first day of a new school year, I am eager to meet my students. I have rehearsed my greeting and first day’s remarks, but no matter how many years I’ve prepared for this procedure, it’s always new. My heart pumps a bit harder, faster; I feel adrenaline like an athlete, or like an actor, or maybe like a novice public speaker. It’s a marvelous feeling, this first day, because I know that something special is going to happen, and I know it because I’ve experienced it before and I know that I will experience it every time I meet a new class throughout my venerable career. And then they’re seated before me and I smile at this special feeling. This is an assembly of students, yes. But there’s so much more, because each of these young persons is more than just a student entrusted to me. Each of these students has a story to tell, a lifetime, however brief, of experiences, a history in volumes whose richness and depth I can barely begin to fathom. And so as I absorb the first glimpse of these young charges, I must appreciate the extent of my responsibility, of the privilege I’ve accepted in presenting these young souls my special knowledge. In offering them my talent and passion, I am adding an enormous array of new bright stars to the vast firmament of their minds, stars that will never have time to fade in their lifetimes. I will be part of their story. And I know that each of them will always be part of mine. And that’s a good feeling, a feeling that is perpetually renewed, revisited, and rewritten in A Teacher’s Creed."

Carla Ranger - Dallas ISD Education Blog

Friday, January 21, 2011

Project 24: The Jared Williams Story

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