Tim Green Speaks to St. B’s Boys

Former NFL football player, lawyer, and acclaimed young adult author, Tim Green, spoke to Middle and Upper School boys last Wednesday, February 10.  This talk was the inaugural event sponsored by the Kronengold Authors Fund, founded this year by sixteen Old Boys who wanted to find a way to honor their former second-grade teacher, Ms. Kronengold.  Ms. Kronengold was delighted to attend Tim Green’s talk and see former students, including an Old Boy, Grange Johnson ’81.

 

Tim Green arrived early to sign stacks of books in the library, where boys had dropped off copies of their favorite Tim Green titles ahead of time.  Then he met with Ms. Kronengold, Mr. Schwartz, St. B’s librarian who organized the event, and Jameson C., the lucky St. B’s boy who had the honor of introducing Mr. Green to the audience.

Tim Green talked about his two passions in life: football and books.  From a young age, Mr. Green avidly pursued sports and reading.  He worked tirelessly to get better and constantly improve.  Even when he was tired, he pushed on and found enough energy to keep trying.  In the classroom, he sat front and center and made eye contact with his teachers.  When working on a writing assignment he would write at least three drafts, and read one of them out loud.  He also loved reading and would read during any free time.  When he was ready to graduate from high school, his hard work had paid off.  As a straight-A student who was also a great football player, he received multiple offers from top universities.  He chose to attend Syracuse University, in part because they had a strong creative writing program.

 

Mr. Green was drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played as a top defensive player for eight years.  While playing in the NFL, he also attended law school and started writing books.  He worked as a broadcaster as well, and earned a prominent position on the FOX network.  Mr. Green explained that among all of his accomplishments, his family was most important.  He gave that up the FOX broadcasting position so that he could watch his son play high school football on Friday nights.

 

Mr. Green also emphasized the importance of kindness.  He explained that “not being unkind isn’t good enough for true success.”  He encouraged the boys to be proactively kind.  He suggested that boys search for someone different than themselves, then reach out to that person.  He also explained how reading could help boys on their quests to be proactively kind, because reading is an exercise of becoming someone else.  Reading teaches empathy and kindness.  Mr. Green truly believes that the beauty and power of books is that they help us become the best people we can be.

 

We greatly appreciate Mr. Green sharing his enthusiasm and vision with the boys.  Thanks to the Old Boys who founded the Kronengold Authors Fund and to Mr. Schwartz for arranging the event.  Finally, a special thank you to Ms. Kronengold, whose passion for reading and writing continues to live on with another generation of boys.