I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. As of 2021, there are over 391,000 children and young adults in the foster care system in the US. While only 18-22% of the general population is estimated to suffer from mental health issues, up to 80% of children in foster care have significant mental health struggles. Why do you think this discrepancy exists? What do you know about the foster care system that might explain this staggering statistic?

Teaching Suggestion: Ensure that your students have a basic understanding of the foster care system in the US, and how it relates to, but is distinct from, the adoption system in the US. Students should understand that it is widely accepted that the foster care system is broken and, as such, contributes to the Plight of Foster Children. What’s more, you should be aware that some of your students may be in foster homes or may have loved ones who have experienced the foster care system. You may want to read the Child Placement Agency’s recommendations on having sensitive, open classroom discussions on matters involving foster care in “What School Staff Should Know About Foster Care.”

• The American Association of Pediatrics explains that mental and behavioral health is the largest unmet need for children in foster care in “Mental and Behavioral Health Needs of Children in Foster Care.”
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation gives an overview of the foster care system in “Foster Care Explained: What It Is, How It Works, and How It Can Be Improved”

2. What’s the difference between a “mentor” and a “role model”? Would you consider these terms to be interchangeable or do they have a distinct and different meaning?

Teaching Suggestion: Merriam-Webster defines “role model” as “a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others”; meanwhile, they define “mentor” as “a trusted counselor or guide.” Guide students to a more nuanced distinction between the two terms as follows: A mentor plays a more active and involved role in counseling a mentee. A role model, on the other hand, could be a distant individual, like a celebrity or historical figure, that one admires from afar. Reflecting on this will get students thinking about The Importance of Mentors and allow students to have a rich, open-ended discussion on what the terms mean to them personally.

• Forbes’s “What Makes A Great Mentor, And The Importance of Having One” lays out the specific qualities of a great mentor.
• The New York Times’s “Why Mentoring Matters, and How to Get Started” offers recommendations on how one can become a mentor themselves.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Orlando Aloysius Battista, the famous Canadian chemist, once said: “Initiative is to success what a lighted match is to a candle.” What do you think he meant by this analogy? What are some of the successes in your life where imitative was the “match” that lit the way to your achievement?

Teaching Suggestion: Invite students to reflect upon times in their lives when they’ve felt that “lighted match” spark of personal initiative light their way to success or an accomplishment. Remind students that the success or accomplishment they choose can be big or small; the important part is the way they used their own drive to achieve their goal. This will help them connect on a more personal level to the book’s theme of Personal Responsibility and Taking Initiative. You may also want to explore Battista’s metaphor of a “lighted match” to describe initiative, exploring why he chose to liken it to a burning fire. What about that imagery rings true?

• Inc.’s “3 Steps to Develop More Initiative” instructs readers on basic steps they can implement to hone personal responsibility in themselves.
• Psychology Today’s “Personal Responsibility and Mental Health” explores how taking greater personal initiative can lead to better mental health.

Differentiation Suggestion: For a more socially engaged approach, have students think of a global problem—perhaps world hunger, homelessness, or gun violence—and ask them to briefly research one modest step they could make to help alleviate the problem. For students struggling to come up with one small action, you may want to direct them to Change.org, where they can find petitions on a variety of social causes. This exercise will demonstrate that even small actions of personal responsibility can affect larger problems.