Having The Courage To Be Different

A Cleveland High School Coach Dreamt Big, And Now Teaches At-Risk Boys To Do The Same

(CBS)  Time for a break from all the bad economic news. Instead … The Good News, stories to be thankful for, featuring an American who made his community better against the odds. Correspondent Armen Keteyian takes us to Ohio:

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Ted Ginn Sr. just might be the most unlikely head of a high school in the country.

A local football coach, he never went to college and doesn't have any teaching or administrative credentials. Yet the school he conceived and runs, the Ginn Academy, is one of the most successful public schools in Cleveland.

"I did so many things different," Ginn said. "I did what other people didn't do. You know what I'm saying?"

"They're going right …" Keteyian said.

"And I'm going left. Because if you're going right and it's not working, you gotta do something different."

So the boys-only Ginn Academy targets at-risk teens, because Ginn says he knows how to reach them.

"You have to teach a kid to dream and not just to dream, you can dream big."

But there's a lot of people that talk about dreams. There are very few who create their own academy with 200 at-risk boys walking the halls, going to class.

How was he able to convince people that his way was the right way?

"I'm not talking about it. I'm being about it. I'm doing it everyday."

He says he needs sweatpants and a whistle, because he runs his school - now in its second year - the way he runs his football teams.

For example, the kids wear uniforms - red coats, with different kinds of ties for different grades.

"You know, when you step on the field you dress, you got a uniform," Ginn said. "And I got the red jackets because you have to be tough to wear a red jacket everyday. They gonna laugh at you. But if you believe in why you wearing that jacket, you know, whatever they say don't matter, you know?

"You gotta have courage to be different."

The students agreed. "When you dress up in the morning, you have a different look, you have a different walk in your step," one boy said.

"It makes us feel better inside like we get more pride," another said.

But Ginn says, a big part of standing out is standing together as so-called Ginn men, living the words recited at the beginning and end of every day:

"We will stay patient, poised, and seize every opportunity for success."

"That's not language you hear a lot in the inner city, Ted," Keteyian said.

"That's right."

Ted Ginn Sr. has been changing the language of the inner city for nearly 30 years, as a coach at nearby Glenville High School.

A machinist by trade, Ginn was working as a school security guard and volunteer assistant coach at Glenville for 10 years when the head coach job opened up.

Without a college degree, Ginn didn't meet the requirements for the job. But he believed he could make a difference and he wouldn't stop until everyone else did, too. He got the job and soon was winning one state title after another.

His "sons," as he calls them, went on to receive more than a million dollars in college scholarships. Among them: Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, and Ginn's actual son, Ted Ginn Jr, a rising star with the Miami Dolphins.

And that led Ginn Sr to lobby the city board of education with an idea that, at first, sounded outrageous: To start an academy. And how did he get from football coach to head of school?

"Dr. Sanders," Ginn laughed.

"He has the unique capacity to be a teacher, a leader of men and women, and I felt very strongly that he just possessed this wonderful talent to work with young people," said Eugene Sanders, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

"I think there are a lot of correlations between what we learn as an athlete to life and particularly to school. And I think the results speak for themselves," Sanders said.

Indeed, they do. While about 69% of 10th graders in Cleveland's public high schools are on or above grade level on standardized reading tests, the red coats average nearly 82%.

What does that mean to Ginn?

"That means everything, because that's what it is - that's what you are gauged by. You're going to be judged by the tests," he said. "They want to compete, you know? They don't wanna be shamed."

The Academy's first class will graduate next year. Ginn sees every student as a representative of himself and his academy - and that means sending each one to college and into the world as a man … a Ginn man.

"I wanna be the best, the greatest," he said. "We got the greatest kids in the world. We're not even near where we need to be, you know? The best."

The Ginn Academy Creed

Our mission is to become exemplary students who will reach our full potential and beyond.

We will recognize our genius and realize our self-worth.

We will stay patient and poised to seize every opportunity for success.

We are guided by scholarship, leadership and service to all mankind.

The Ginn Academy will cultivate us to become global leaders of the century.

[meier32]

I am so moved by this story. are there any such schools in the greater seattle area? who could I contact in order to help such a school? thank you for showing this inspiring article. Donna Meier

[perflead]

I remember a boy in my school with the worst grades most of his school years. Somewhere in the high school he was inspired by someone like Ginn and, he grew up to be the best in his class and, the most successful in his life. I think what Ginn is doing will make a huge difference in the lives for his students

[jazzman1933]

Is is possible to get a copy of the words each cadet recites each day?

[tallyman2008]

Excellent story to find on Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend

Thank You Mr Ginn

Keep up the Good Work

[dbstevens]

I''m really pleased to read this story. Mr. Ginn proves that you CAN make things work well if you try. Too many other people blame problems on external sources. But when you find someone like Mr. Ginn, you realize that it IS possible to do things right and make a difference. Mr. Ginn''s success is sort of like Southwestern Airlines and the airline industry. All the other airlines complain about fuel costs, the economy, etc., blaming those elements for their troubles. But Southwest is doing well...why? Because they''re doing things differently and being smart. They prove that the others are wrong. People need to pay attention to Mr. Ginn and all others like him who see a problem and address it with intelligence. I love the adage "if you keep doing what you''re doing, you''re going to keep getting what you''re getting."

[mbievtea]

This story shows us that children need discipline; not in terms of being spanked or something like that, but the "discipline" of guidance, normalcy, and focus. It''s important to be children, but it is also important to be ready to accept being an adult. So many of today''s kids don''t know the simple response of "thank you".

[greengrasgal]

Reminds me of another great American who went from poverty to greatness -- Dr. Benjamin Carson. These are men who refused to stay on the welfare plantation.

[mycountry1st]

Talk about inspiring. Young men in our country need more men like Mr Ginn and more schools like Mr Ginn''s school.

[mswolfestock]

This man''s way of educating fine young Americans should be adopted by every school in the nation. These kids are what this country needs to lead us into the future.

He should get the Nobel Peace Prize. I''m convinced that education is the fastest way to world peace.

[toolmangler-2009]

If we had more people like him, we''d have fewer people like this.

"Deadly Shootout At Calif. Toys "R" Us"
"Two Men Pull Guns And Shoot Each Other Dead After Wives Squabble "

[toolmangler-2009]

He should get the Nobel Peace Prize. I''''m convinced that education is the fastest way to world peace.
Posted by mswolfestock at 04:28 PM : Nov 30, 2008




I agree, he should get a ''Nobel'' for his work.

[downsteamjim]

I wish Obama had done something like this. I wish Ginn continued success and I hope he develops a plan that can be copied by others.

[solarrays247-2009]

"Ted Ginn Sr. just might be the most unlikely head of a high school in the country."

Thank you, Mr. Ginn, Sr.!! Thank you for thinking "outside the box!" Thank you for your big heart and courage! Thank you for giving so many others hope! We need millions more like you for all of our young people!

p.s. We could do with more news items like this!!

[solarrays247-2009]

He should get the Nobel Peace Prize. I''''''''m convinced that education is the fastest way to world peace.
Posted by mswolfestock at 04:28 PM : Nov 30, 2008

I agree, he should get a ''''Nobel'''' for his work.
Posted by ToolMangler at 06:14 PM : Nov 30, 2008

I''m with you guys!

[dowjones20k]

Mr. Ginn is an example for what true character, personal responsibility, self worth and hard work can do for young individuals ..

Set goals and expectations high and lead by example ...

I applaud Mr. Ginn and hopefully many more elitist academia school stuffed shirts can realize that degrees and PHD''s are hardly worth the paper they are written on .. unless one has mentors with the character and resolve that Mr. Ginn instills in his pupils ...

Congratulations Mr. Ginn !!

[kenhamlett]

Mr. Ginn is to be commended on his vision and implementation of his concepts. He is not alone in deserving credit. The community that dared to try something new and saw worth in Mr. Ginn''s ideas also deserved praise. It is seldom that I see even one individual willing to try to be different. In this case I see Mr. Ginn, his students and his community all with courage and foresight. I salute them all.

[mediai11ness]

He needs to go to D.c. and do the same....they need it bad

[runningralph]

Mr. Ginn is teaching his boys to work toward a goal, stay off drugs, don''t commit crimes, don''t get girls pregnant. He is teaching them to be conservatives.

[whitemale08]

Now all we need is a white-male role-model who head out into the rural areas and into the trailer parks to teach gets not to get their siblings pregnant and put the guns down.

[marc0valenti]

The values that Ginn is teaching are not conservative values, as described by runningralph, but simply good human values - shared by liberals and conservatives alike. Why create division where there is none? Shame on you.

[fredflinsto2]

News flash, Everyone is different. We are not a huge group of clones, we are all individuals.

[fredflinsto2]

News flash, Everyone is different. We are not a huge group of clones, we are all individuals.

[liberty4you]

This is a great example of individual contribution to America''s educational system.

However, most Americans shun at school uniforms in public educational facilities. It just looks too un-American.

Yeah, every educator stresses dress codes in public schools. But that is part of Democracy.

Baggy pants down to the knees and orange hair will get students expelled... but we''re focusing on the micro rather than the macro and we will fail.

Part of individuality has to do with everyone''s participation by choice... and Ted Ginn Sr.''s system is working with "at risk youth."

Are all American youths "At Risk"

I feel no uniforms for America''s "Public" educational institutions.

We''re not British (Red)