I had the honor of being a part of something beautiful as Manny Alvarado and I had a chance to see our good friend Ronald A Burgess of Ronald A Burgess Foundation Inc speak to over 250 kids ranging from grades 5-8 at the Knox Trail Middle School in Spencer, MA. From the moment we arrived we were welcomed by staff and students with open arms, it couldn’t have been more inviting. As we set up for the presentation, I didn’t really know what to expect, I mean the thought of over 250 young kids would make anyone nervous, well almost anyone. Once the announcement was made over the intercom for students to come down to the cafeteria, within minutes the first wave of kids starts to pour into the cafeteria at Knox Trail Middle School. You could see a calm yet eager Ron Burgess Jr excited and ready to go as he greets each kid as they walked in to take their seats. He had their attention from the moment they all took their places. As the principal Gina Fasoli is introducing Ron Burgess to all attending students one of the students whispers to Ron and says “You won’t be able to motivate me” Ron smiles at him and says watch this, and that’s when the magic begins. The kids were engaged from the moment he began, he started it off with letting the kids know a little about himself, where he came from and how he got to where he is now. He then discussed his personal struggles growing up without his father and not knowing he had a brother that he later met when he was older. It was at that moment you could see he had a bond with those kids in the room.
The kids were asking questions as well as opening up about their own struggles they have in their own lives. Ron Burgess then asked the crowd of kids if they could say something motivational to uplift him because he was feeling down. The students did not hesitate the room lit up with motivation from all different types of students, even the kids you could see were a little more on the shy side felt that they had a space where they could just be themselves. It was a beautiful sight for all the teachers in attendance. At one point one of the students went to the front of the crowd with a message for everyone of the students saying you all are special in your own way “I know what its like to not be accepted from anyone even my own family, but I want to say just pushing” she went on to say ” I love you all and I hope you all succeed in life”. I guess at this point you could say mission accomplished, and job well done Ron Burgess! When everything was done a line of students formed to take pictures as well as let him know how much they appreciated him coming to talk to them. Some just wanted to shake his hand. It was great to see what took place in the cafeteria at Knox Trail, and I’m glad I was able to be apart of it.
If you would like to book Ron Burgess please contact him by email or visit the website
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