Sasha McHenry

My walkie went off with a frantic voice saying, “Code R, we have a runner.” I ran from my office and my assistant was pointing to the door. I broke one of the first rules of school, no running in the hall. For a big dude, I was moving very rapidly. I went out the door and saw a blur of a student hop the fence and run across the street.   Our school faced a very busy street. Right across the street, was a liquor store. If that wasn’t bad enough, the next thing one encounters heading down the road are railroad tracks. As soon as you make it past the tracks, you come upon a bridge with a 20 foot drop into a river. Moving further down the road brings you to a truck stop. If the aforementioned items weren’t scary enough, you then reach a major interstate highway. The interstate can either take you to downtown St. Louis or if you choose to go in the opposite direction you can get as far as Arkansas and points further south and west. I really have no idea whose idea it was to put a school here. It is important to know that when drivers saw a six foot four big dude running after a small six year old, the first thought for them wasn’t concerned and caring principal. I think it was more likely “stranger danger.” I won’t spend much time on this point, but it was always fun having to run while flashing my school ID badge so as not to get jumped by concerned drivers.   Back to my runner. As soon as I saw him hop the fence, it was time to move and not think. The first attempt of man vs. fence went to the fence. I cleared the fence minus a chunk of the back of my suit pant and some of the skin from my right side of my buttocks. We were steps from the bridge to the river and I decided that a bear hug would be the best course of action. I corralled him and within a few moments he calmed down.   Billy let me know that when he gets frustrated or angry he runs. I asked him about when this started, and he said ever since he could remember. Billy said, “I remember when I was in preschool, my parents were fighting, and my dad ran out of the house. That was the last time I saw him. Sometimes I think that I may find him when I’m running. I really miss him.” Wow, that was deep. Not at all what I expected to hear from a six year old. We spoke a little more and I suggested that we should head back so that he could get ready for dismissal.   The next morning I met with his teacher, his previous teacher, the counselor, the assistant principal, and others. My first priority was Billy’s safety. I was also thinking about ways to channel this running impulse into something more positive and safer. Lastly, I was thinking of what we could do to help Billy find a father figure or male role model.   We came up with a plan to start a daily running intervention for Billy. This was something that would play to his strengths, would hopefully be enough to keep him calm and in a good place, and may keep him from running off property where it was more dangerous. It was my job to sell this to Billy. He was very excited to do this. We created a list of volunteers and implemented the plan right away. Beyond the running, this gave us a great opportunity to have conversations with Billy and provide very important relationships. This plan worked amazingly well. Billy asked if he could recruit a friend to come with them. We agreed and it was perfect that he selected James. James had a similar family situation and some behavior concerns. We all agreed this was a win-win all the way around. The intervention grew to more boys with similar concerns. The grown-up helpers grew with time too. Billy was the first in his family to go to college… on a track scholarship. Does your school have out of the box strategies that can channel a challenging/unsafe behavior into a positive one? From the book “Maslow Before Bloom: Basic Human Needs Before Academics” (a.co/d/fhhFJ4V) Join us at the “Maslow Before Bloom” Facebook group: Facebook.com/groups/maslowbe…