Change Challenge Update #2
The first graders are here.
The 2004 American League Championship Series. The 2014 World Cup Finals. The 2016 NBA Finals. Super Bowl 51. The Johnson Elementary School 2023 Change Challenge.
What do these events have in common? Yes, they all featured the world’s most elite competitors at the top of their games playing for ultimate glory. Yes, millions of fans all over the globe tuned in to witness the drama unfold. And they all featured one team running out to a seemingly insurmountable lead about halfway through the competition.
This fall, the Johnson first graders have announced that they’ve had it up to here with the established order.
“The fourth grade always wins.”
We’ve been hearing it for years. And year after year, it happens. The fourth grade wins. What does one do, when they tell you that you can’t win? That there’s hardly even any sense in trying. That the world is the way that it is, that it has always been thus, that things do not change. That you will fail.
The first grade heard the talk. They’ve been hearing it their whole lives. But what separates the good from the great—the mortal from the immortal—is what you do when confronted by the immovable, rock-hard fact of longstanding domination. Do you shrink and retreat in the face of the seemingly inevitable? Or do you rise—steel in your spine, belief in your heart, and faith in the comrades at your side—establish your position, and stand your ground?
Halfway through the 2023 Change Challenge, look at what the first grade has done, ye mighty fourth graders, and despair.
How will the fourth grade respond? They’ve slipped to third place, behind the third grade, and they’re not much clear of the second graders. How will they respond to this unprecedented full-frontal assault on their position? The Change Challenge doesn’t build character—it reveals it. The first grade has shown us who they are, who they intend to be. How will the rest of the competitors respond? Only time will tell.
The dread Yankees were up three games to none over the underdog Red Sox, just one win away from the World Series. Germany jumped out to a 5-0 halftime lead over Brazil. The Warriors led Lebron’s Cavaliers three games to one, on the cusp of winning their second straight NBA championship and cementing their claim to a young dynasty. The Falcons were up 21-3 at halftime over the hegemonic Patriots.
And now, the second half of the 2023 Change Challenge will transpire. The first graders have jumped out to a very impressive lead, but this tale is not yet fully told. This is a story that will be elucidated by the gentle fluttering of paper currency, unfurled from the fists of children and dropped gently into large plastic jugs, paper then buried by the clink and jangle of many, many falling coins. Each dollar bill a provocation. Each penny a response. Every coin a statement.
What story will it tell, when all is said and done? Who will author this history?
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