Stormin' Norman

Had a very profound day today - and yes I am serious. I took a group of year 9+10 students up to Nelson to hear a talk organised by the SPCA. The talk was about the link between cruelty to animals and later domestic violence.
The speaker was Norm Hewitt (a former All Black for those who aren't Kiwi and for those who are but don't know!!!) He was hilariously funny, regaling the students with stories of his All Black days, Dancing with the stars etc and had the kids rolling around the seats laughing. Then in the space of a breath he talked about being 7 and deciding he was going to be an ALL Black - all good so far.... And then his voice got quieter and he talked about the physical abuse he received from his father as a child and the abuse his mother had to take.
There were probably 300-400 kids in that hall and you could have heard a pin drop. I will admit that me, my sis (who came as an adult driver) and the other teachers around the hall had tears rolling down their faces - it was heartbreaking. You could not help but feel the pain that boy felt.
Norm Hewitt was truly inspirational for me today and I think for some of the kids too. Certainly the kids I had travelled home with had their lives changed in a small way today and without exception all were well impressed.

On a side (but important) note - my kids ROCK! they were AWESOME (a Norm Hewitt joke) They were well behaved, polite, interested and sensitive - I couldn't be more proud if I tried.