Meet Junior – The Apprentice Who Built With Me

It started with a call from a teacher. She asked if I needed any extra help at the farm after she read about me in the newspaper. 

Her name is Laura Demmitt, and she taught at a charter school in Greeley. One that prepped kids for college, unlike the public school system. Her lane was teaching special education. 

In today’s world, special seems to mean something different. Because when I was a kid, we had two kinds of special education. The kind devoted to those who were physically and mentally impaired in some capacity, or those referred to as Gifted and Talented. Ironically, I was placed in the latter even though I rarely showed up to school. 

Laura told me about a kid she called Junior, who needed a lot of guidance early on and developed into a capable man-boy. He started as the pot-smoking delinquent who slowly grew into a sports-playing romantic. I was told it’s primarily due to a girlfriend and basketball. Kudos to Laura and the girl. Oftentimes, we older boys need the women to be guardrails on things we do. Had I had a gf in high school, I may have made many different choices. 

The day junior called me was shocking. Because kids these days don’t call…they text. Win number one in my book. Then, when he visited to see what I had going on, to take the initial site tour, he jumped right in on the task at hand…moving bagged feed from my stoop into my living room. 

Of course, I offered him a job. And boy was he in for the ride of his life. If you’ve ever seen Karate Kid, then you would know how I teach those who enter my world. “Move the feed”, “Package the produce” Wash the eggs”, which went on for months. Day in and day out, I was taking care of chickens and developing a new partnership with the folks at the BARK.  Before he knew it, Junior was a chicken pimp’s apprentice, full stop. 

Suppose I need someone to do something on the farm. I first call junior. Because he will do it or figure out how to get it done, and if he can’t, he will not shy away from saying so. 

Though I do not let him think he can’t. I try to make sure he thinks he can. 

Because whether a man thinks he can or can’t, he’s right.