Amazing People
My wife and I visited a friend in December. Leigh Avery Hart. Leigh attended UT Martin, where she played tennis, and one year out of college she began her career as a Middle School teacher and coach in Dresden, Tennessee.
37 years she taught at the same middle school. She hoped to get to 40, but illness has thwarted those plans. Her first students are now 52, and many are grandparents. Leigh has taught and coached multiple mothers and daughters.
Ten years ago Leigh started the Lion’s Den Student Reward program at her school where kids can earn bucks for good behavior and spend it in the store. Leigh and others raise money in the community to furnish the store. The number one sales item? Not candy, toys, or trinkets. Toiletry items. The kids in her school buy shampoo and toothpaste with their money. Last week the kids got to spend their money to buy Christmas gifts for their families. Over 50 volunteers were on hand to wrap the gifts and wipe away tears as the children excitedly explained for whom they were buying their gifts.
December 13, 2020 was declared Leigh Hart Day in Dresden, Tennessee. They named the court at the Middle School in her honor, and the dedication was the lead story in the December 15 edition of the Weakley County Press. Leigh said that day, “I truly loved being in the classroom, but my passion was basketball and spending many hours on the court pushing and pushing and having a little fun in hopes of helping young women to know their worth and being mentally tough, to be equipped to go out into the world and to tackle any obstacle to fulfill their dreams.”
“Helping young women to know their worth.” I. Love. That!
Temptations to wallow in despair and cynicism surround us. What we all need to do is to spend time with the Leigh Harts in our lives. The good, kind, wonderful people who make this world a better place in which to live.
When you make a visit like we did, you will walk out the door and feel overwhelmed with joy and wonder and thanksgiving. “Oh my gosh,” you will think. “There are some amazing people in this world.”
Yes there are.