Last week, I took a journey back in time.  No, It wasn’t a back to the future deal, I just went back to my old high school of 38 years ago.  It had been that long since I walked the halls of Tulsa Rogers High School in 1972.  LawnAmerica is participating the annual Day of Service again, which we are helping to sponsor with the Professional Landcare Network, a network of hundreds of green industry professionals across the country.  Every spring, on Earth Day, we devote our resources to volunteer towards beautifying  areas in our local communities.  Last year, LawnAmerica treated, and is still treating, 27 acres of city park turf for free in five communities, including several in Tulsa.  Tulsa Will Rogers High School has asked for help in re-landscaping their grounds in front of the school.  So, being a graduate of Rogers, and because Rogers Young Life is one of the five charities we’re supporting with our AT2010 compassionate journey, I thought it would be a great fit for our staff to help them out this spring.  We’ll begin treating the turf in front of the school also, which looks like it’s not seen a grain of fertilizer or a lick of weed-control for 20 years.  And although our business does not do landscaping, our guys are pretty hard workers, and know how to operate a shovel and a rake pretty well.

Rogers High School in 2010

As I pulled into the parking lot in front of the school, something immediately seemed much different.  The architecture of Rogers is beautiful art deco, and is in fact on the National Historical Register.  But the school is showing its age, with a beaten down landscape, rotting windows, and old tile flooring that I swear are the same old tiles that were there 38 years ago.  The Tulsa Public Schools bond issue is being voted on this month, which if passed, will provide new windows in front, a new cafeteria, and other vital projects need for Rogers and other Tulsa schools.  With new windows in front, and improved landscaping, at least the initial appearance of the school would be greatly improved.

Rogers is a beautiful building, listed on the National Resister of Historic Places

There were no cars in front of the school, lining the streets for blocks up and down 5^th and up the side streets as there had been when I was there 38 years ago.  It was a school day, but it seemed eerie going past the security guard and into the office with just a few staff inside.  The halls were the same I remember, except it seemed so quiet, and there were metal detectors at various places in the hallway.

It took a few minutes for the office staff to track down the Principal, Lyda Wilbur.  She had been covering a class, since the Tulsa Public Schools cannot find enough substitute teachers to fill their needs.  She’s an energetic, caring Hispanic woman that seemed determined to turn things around at Rogers and help make a difference in these kid’s lives.  One of the first things I asked was, “Where are all the cars that used to be overflowing into the streets on a typical school day?”  She said, “Most of our kids can’t afford cars, so they have to take the bus.”  I then asked about the size of their graduating class this year, and she replied, “About 134.  Of the in-coming freshmen entering Rogers, only about 47% of them actually graduate.”

The school is not the only thing that's changed over the years! What happened to that hair?

In 1972, we had a graduating class of about 760 I believe, and it was probably 96% white Caucasian.  Rogers was full of excitement, (sometimes too much), and the classes were full.  Our sports teams were good, we had plenty of opportunities to get involved, and the community and parents were involved in the school.  And Rogers was one of the best schools in Tulsa, graduating thousands of kids, especially from the 50’s through the 70’s, many of whom went on to become successful and productive members of our community, or moved on to other communities.   This was before the flight to the suburbs.

Ms. Wibur told us that the present Rogers student body is about 25% white, 30% African-American, and 30% Hispanic, with the remaining being other minorities.   The demographics have changed dramatically.  “A nice mix,” I stated.  Many of the local kids are transferring to other schools out of the Rogers district.  This is something that Ms. Wilbur wants to change.

As I sat and listened to Ms. Wilbur, I felt a little guilty, as our kids have been given so many opportunities to succeed, and have so many more resources at their disposal. We raised our kids in the suburban schools, Owasso in our case, which are good public schools.  We’ve been able to send two of our kids to great colleges, with our last son even having the opportunity to attend a great private school for the last two years, before heading off to college somewhere next year on a ROTC scholarship.  We, as many of those Rogers graduates from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, have truly been blessed to have the type of life and opportunities we’ve enjoyed.

I came to the conclusion well before my meeting with Ms. Wilbur that I wanted to help give back to the Rogers community.  That’s a big reason why I choose Tulsa Rogers Young Life as one of the five non-profits we’re raising money for through the AT2010.  But as I heard of the needs of the kids at Rogers, and sensed the passion that  Lyda has for transforming Rogers High School back into the school that it once was, I realized that much more needs to be done at Rogers, and for that matter many Tulsa area schools, than just some new landscape plants, trees, and eventually nice green grass.  Although that’s going to be nice, it’s just one small part of the solution.

These kids need hope.  They need the same resources we had growing up.  They deserve the same opportunities that other kids in other schools have.  They need a little help, and they need a little compassion.

Compassion….that’s what this AT2010 journey is really all about.

Compassion is not just feeling sorry for people, it’s rolling up your sleeves and doing something to help out.  It’s investing your time, resources, and efforts towards helping others see their hope for a better future, and helping them to break out of the cycle they are in and build a stronger generation.  It’s writing a check.  It’s doing what you do best, towards helping others not as fortunate as yourself.

Tulsa Rogers Young Life is just one organization that’s investing their efforts into helping to transform the lives of these special students.  There are hundreds of kids, roaming the halls of Tulsa Rogers (and in all schools), who are in need of spiritual direction, who need to be connected with adults who care about them.   Caring for kids, and sharing  the good news of God’s love—it’s what they do.  And Young Life does it well all across the country.  That’s why I’m supporting them, and it’s one of the organizations I’m asking people in our community to help out, through my walk across America along the Appalachian Trail.  The money we raise goes specifically to Tulsa Rogers High School—my old school.  I’m passionate about doing my little part in helping  our community to transform this school.  The Principal, Ms. Wilber, the teachers, and staff cannot do it themselves.  It needs to be a community effort.  Help us out, by showing a little compassion to these deserving kids at Rogers.

All of these five non-profits share one commanality–they are helping people in our community who need the help and compassion the most.

As for my journey, three months from now, I’ll be trudging northward through the mountains of Georgia, on my way to the Tennesse/North Carolina border along the Appalachian Trail.  It’ll be here before I know it, so I’m cranking up my physical preparation for the trail.  My back has recovered from a few weeks ago, and I’m back to normal.  I think I must have pulled a muscle in my back, as I was lifting too much weight trying to show up those young studs in the gym.  With three months before I hit the trail, I’m cutting back on my weight training, while doing more climbing, walking, running, and getting this old body to limber up a little more.

The AT is calling my name!

Spring is finally showing signs of breaking through the long winter we’ve experienced in Tulsa, which is good for LawnAmerica.  One of the many challenges of this journey is having my business in a strong position so that I can be gone four months from late May to October 1^st.  After more than eleven hard years of growing and building the company and our staff, with a strong spring, I think we’ll be ready.  I have faith in our staff, that they’ll execute our game plan, and fulfill our Mission while I’m gone.  We need to have a great spring, especially with keeping our customers happy, obtaining more new customers, and growing our customer base by 10%.  That’s the challenge we have before us now at LawnAmerica.

So while I’m focusing on making these business goals happen, my heart is being pulled to the adventure of the AT, and on raising the necessary funds to help our non-profits such as Young Life to do their thing.  As of this writing on the 1^st of March, we’re only sitting at about $34,000, with $66,000 to raise before reaching our goal of $100,000 for our five charities.  I have faith that we’ll get there, and hopefully before I even step foot on the AT in late May.