They are happy, confident people, and who sometimes march to the beat of their own drum. Jovan dances to the beat of two songs: the Southridge fight song, and the Backstreet Boys.
Jovan has been a part of Southridge nearly as long as I have been here. My second year was Jovan’s first year. He made an immediate and lasting impression. I was teaching newspaper, and one of my reporters, Michael, came to me with the idea of featuring Jovan as our student of the month. He had met Jovan in the LifeSkills class, and thought he was really cool. He wanted the rest of the school to know how cool he was, too. All Michael could talk about was this special needs kid who used corny pickup lines to talk to girls, who sang as he walked through the hallway, who LOVED the Backstreet Boys, loved to dance, and was obsessed with all things sports.
My first instinct was to be a little skeptical – I didn’t want to give the kids a chance to exploit Jovan. You see, JoJo is special. He is mildly retarded, and deaf in one ear. He is in the LifeSkills class, and is one of those special kids we get to keep until they turn 21. Though I didn’t believe Michael to be capable of intentional cruelty, I had to keep in mind that he was a high school student, and high schoolers are notorious for doing anything to get a laugh. It took some convincing, but Michael won me over. He brought Jovan in to the classroom and introduced us. I gave my conditional approval for the article: I had to agree with everything in it before it was allowed to run.
I shouldn’t have worried so much. While Michael was writing his article, I agreed to be a judge at the annual Battle of the Bands. Imagine my surprise when, in between bands, Jovan was called to the stage to sing and dance. The kids were so awesome. The first strands of a Backstreet Boys song came on, and instead of groaning or making fun, they left their seats, rushed to the front of the stage and began to cheer. Jovan sang his song and danced his dance, and loved every minute of it. The kids cheered wildly for Jovan throughout his entire performance. They gave him high fives when he was done. It was the type of thing that gives you goosebumps. It’s magical. It makes you have faith in the future when you see something like that. It’s good to be a Sun.
When you go to a sporting event at Southridge, Jovan is there. He loves competitive sports – but not because he wants to win. Sure, he likes to win, but JoJo is not involved in sports just for that reason. He is involved because he likes to be part of the team. For as long as I can remember he has been standing on the sidelines, cheering on his Suns. Jovan dispenses with equal enthusiasm high fives when they do well and encouragement when they need it. The kid loves this school and its students. He loves every sport, and is involved as much as he can be. He didn’t make the football team, but was allowed to be the manager. He is on the sidelines throughout the entire game, watching every single play. Nobody has more school spirit than Jovan. He is also a manager on the basketball team. He dresses in a suit and tie like the coaches, and has even been mistaken for an assistant coach by opposing teams. He can be heard in the halls after a game, reliving every play, every call. He wants to analyze every detail.
Coaches often hold JoJo up as an example for their athletes. No matter what the score, Jovan is optimistic and enthusiastic. Remember? He has that special light. He can see the positive side of any situation. He has what they call “heart” and that’s something all coaches want their players to have. JoJo is one of those people who is loved by almost everyone who encounters him. SHS staff and students definitely love him.
That’s why it’s so hard to accept that he’s passed away.
It happened sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning. He died of natural causes at the age of 20; his heart just stopped.
The news shocked us. Monday night he had been at school late working out and getting ready to play soccer. He was going to be able to play JV soccer this year. And he was going to play in a Special Olympics basketball game this weekend. He was living life and loving it.
We’ve had students pass away before; too many, in fact. We have a process in place, and, though a student’s death is always hard, this process helps because we know what to expect. Mr. LeCompte will make the announcement, we have counselors in place to talk to kids, and teachers gauge their classes and make the decisions best for the kids. Some classes move on, and some stop and mourn. We put up huge butcher paper in the hall and leave markers out for kids to leave messages for their lost peer. That paper is delivered to the family at the same time as the contents of their locker.
This time was different. In seven years, I’ve never seen anything like it. We found out Tuesday morning. By Friday, instead of one butcher paper in the hall, there were six. Kids wanted to donate money to his family to help defray the funeral costs, so they got a special fund set up on Wednesday, and in only three days collected more than $4300 dollars. That’s not counting what was donated at local banks in another special fund. An art class got their hands on a picture of him, and put together a mural in one class period. Wherever you turned, kids were comforting each other, and remembering JoJo. Athletes convinced our Athletic Director to get jerseys out from storage, and let them wear them to the funeral services in honor of Jovan. I overheard a kid say that it was a blessing he passed away when he did, because Jovan never would have wanted to leave Southridge.
But leave us he did. The funeral was today. I had a hard time deciding if I should go or not. I wanted to go to show support for his family. But I also knew it was going to be packed with kids. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t take the seat of someone who knew him better. I don’t know if Jovan even knew who I was. I knew him, of course, everyone knew him. I also wanted to be there to comfort my kids. My heart aches for Jovan and his family, but it breaks for my kids. They are far too young to have to deal with something like this. It breaks my heart to see great big grown up kids dissolve into tears. I want to help make them feel better.
I finally decided not to go to the funeral, though, that I should leave the room for students. Instead, my friend and I decided that we would honor Jovan’s memory by having a half hour of solitude today, and remembering all the good things about Jovan. That’s why I’m doing this blog.
Like the sun warms the earth, Jovan warmed our hearts. Never before has a school’s mascot fit someone’s personality so well. Jovan was a Sun through and through. He had a light that shined from within him that made our halls, our days, and our lives brighter. Watching him bop down the hallways greeting kids put a smile on my face every time.
Now that Jovan has passed, our halls aren’t quite so bright, but like the sun warms the earth, this Sun’s memory will warm our hearts.
Jovan, smiling in class.
The mural the art class drew. Each kid is given a small section of a picture they are to "blow up" and then they put the picture back together again. It's pretty impressive in a photo, and totally blows your mind in person. It looks just like him, too.
This picture was taken on Wednesday. By Friday there were six or seven posters covered in messages.
A close up of one of the posters in the hall.
One of the other high schools sent us a beautiful bouquet of flowers and this kind poster.
1 comment:
Your word left me speechless. My eyes are teary. That was beautiful! Both he and his family are very special to have such wonderful things written about him.
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