Thoughts from Michael Phelps

I don't know about you, but I'm glad the Olympics are over. It was fun and exciting to watch. But after a while you get tired of them. Luckily they only come around every two years.

In reflecting back on those two weeks, it appears that Andy Warhol's statement about fame has been proven. Michael Phelps was the big story with is eight gold medal performances. It's still a great accomplishment and will probably stand for quite a while, maybe forever. The media has moved on however and so has the water cooler conversation.

Despite being out of the limelight, Phelps' performance has much to teach us about living faithfully to God. Three of his eight gold medals were in team events. If not for the incredible swim of his teammate Jason Lezak in the 4X100M relay, Phelps' total would have been only seven.

I'm learning a lot about teamwork. As a middle school teacher, teaming among teachers is the norm. All the math teachers in our grade level plan together, schedule together, etc. We even have integration teams that link several disciplines as we work together to teach our non-academic core classes together. Ideas, suggestions, support and help freely flow from one person to another. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world to be part of the school team known as Clayton Middle School.

The idea of teamwork is beginning to permeate most of my life. I have organized all my students into teams. I told them it was because in real life, you never work alone. They were to also use the teams for peer support. Some of the responsibility for each student's individual success will depend on the help of his or her team.

I coach the school's volleyball the team. Final cuts were Thursday. At the first practice on Friday I told them they were only a squad right now. Their goal was to learn to play as a team. We began making strides toward that goal by the end of practice yesterday.

In the religious world, we call teams "community". On this faith journey outside the walls of the brick and mortar church, the need for a team is ever apparent. Living faithfully cannot be done alone. Life has normalized for us after a difficult six months. I'm amazed at the people God has placed in my path. I haven't built a team yet, but I know one is coming. More than gold medals await as result.