Chatter fills the Sullivan Performing Arts Center auditorium at Texas High School as freshmen flow into the room, filling the seats. Dr. Adolph Brown takes the microphone in hand while the students continue to murmur in curiosity. Soon, silence spreads across the room as Dr. Brown begins his lecture.
On Feb. 15, Texas High held a pep rally for freshmen with returning guest speaker Dr. Brown. The event aimed to inspire students to strive for excellence and plan for the future.
“The biggest thing that I wanted them to learn was not to fall behind. To fall behind and credits to fall behind in education is a lot different than most people think,” Brown said. “It gets frustrating. Sometimes, it can be embarrassing because everyone else is doing well, and you’re not, but should they fall behind to get help. But my first thing is to do your best as ninth-graders not to fall behind.”
With Brown’s extensive experience with child psychology and his journey to success, the district felt he would be a perfect speaker to motivate students.
“He’s a psychologist, and he has a lot of success in mentoring students,” principal Ben Renner said. “I think the benefit is that kids get to hear about goals, aspirations and getting their work done from someone other than their teacher. He does really well at putting himself in their shoes, talking about his own journey and his own success.”
The main message the district wanted to convey to students through this pep rally was the importance of setting goals and working towards them.
“Our success, your future is completely relied upon you. Yes, we have to work with other people, and some of us have more resources than others, but anything you want in life is a series of goals,” Renner said. “But sometimes when we’re thinking about what we want out of life, we’re looking at it seems so far away, and it is like you need a ladder to climb on top of [that metaphorical] building. You grab a ladder, and you take it a step or a goal at a time, and you can literally have anything you want.”
This was not the first time Brown visited with students of the district; however, compared to past times, the atmosphere was more serious.
“My very first experience at Texas High was extremely inviting and warm,” Brown said. “The young people were excited. They were cheering for me. I was cheering for them. And I believe we actually formed a connection where today, we didn’t have as many bells and whistles as we did the first time, so I could actually have more of a conversation today, as opposed to a masterclass.”
Students who attended the pep rally learned more about themselves and how to become successful. After the lecture, they feel they might change how they carry on in life.
“I learned that it’s okay to be different and to respect and help people,” freshman Abbey Lomelino said. “ [Dr. Brown] said that it’s best to listen and that you can go a long way by listening. My favorite part was just listening to them talk about how it’s OK to ask for help. [I feel like after the assembly], I might reach out differently and more.”
