Williams: Olympian teaches students value of hard work

Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt of Portsmouth may earn enough gold medals to fill Fort Knox.

Those medals won't carry more value than the message he imparted to Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary School students about the value of hard work.

Despite how we like to think of ourselves, the U.S. work ethic is endangered. Economic insecurity and lingering job losses have delivered a body blow that undermines the American dream. Criminals -- from dope slingers to white-collar schemers -- have further undermined that dream by taking financial shortcuts at other folks' expense.

This get-rich-quick mentality is amplified by the 24-hour news cycle and reality-TV culture. You could hardly find a more vivid example of this perversion of the dream than the pathetic saga of the "balloon boy," whose parents are accused of staging a hoax in a weird attempt to get their own TV show.

Meanwhile, we've witnessed an ever-widening chasm between the haves and the have-nots, with cynicism breeding in the breach. In MICHAEL
PAUL
WILLIAMS
this environment of instant gratification, patience and hard work are an increasingly tough sell. And who could blame the students at Redd, a Richmond school where four out of five students receive free or reduced-price lunches.

But yesterday Merritt, who won gold medals in the 400-meter race and 4-x-400-meter relay in the Beijing Olympics, tackled the issue head-on.

As recounted by Times-Dispatch reporter Holly Prestidge, Merritt answered questions in a classroom as his gold medals were passed around the room for every student to hold.

One of the students asked, after being told that those medals were worth upwards of $20,000, why Merritt didn't sell them.

"You get money, and you lose money," Merritt told the class. "But these [medals], that's something that's going to stick with me till the day I leave this Earth."

For a minute or so, the room was filled with the chatter of students in disbelief that having something so valuable would be more important to him than making money.

Merritt turned the question around and asked the boy if he played sports. He said yes, football.

Would he sell a trophy he won for playing football?

"Yes, for money," the boy said. He later said that he wouldn't sell the medal if he didn't need the money.

We've read stories of the destitute former athlete forced to sell his championship ring. But that's not nearly as sad as the financial deprivation our children face, through no fault of their own.

It's asking a lot to preach to these kids the sort of values abandoned by a large swath of society. But if the attainment of money becomes the end instead of a means to an end, these kids will sell themselves and their community short.

When students view accomplishment as the reward for hard work, the rest will take care of itself. It certainly worked for Merritt, who frankly does not need to sell his medals.

And when they no longer feel compelled to choose between accomplishment and need, that'll be worth more than gold.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .