Jesse LeBeau encourages Haines students to quiet doubting voices and go after big dreams (Corinne Smith/KHNS)
The Haines School hosted motivational speaker Jesse LeBeau on Monday, as part of a year-long mental health curriculum to support middle and high school students in building confidence, optimism and resilience. KHNS’ Corinne Smith has more.
Haines middle and high school students and staff gathered in the elementary school gym for a special assembly with Jesse LeBeau. He’s known as a “celebrity teen coach” and travels nation-wide sharing his story about being an under-dog, but following his dream to play basketball and eventually to acting in Hollywood.
LeBeau is energetic and smiling, and picks two brave eighth graders to volunteer for a game showing off tricks with a basketball. Then there’s a race to collect $100 in cash from LeBeau, and another eighth grader wins.
“He took action, right?” LeBeau said. “Taking action is the biggest thing that separates winning from losing in our lives.”
LeBeau is originally from Ketchikan, and grew up smaller than his peers but determined to play basketball. He says he heard doubts about his size and abilities, but he worked hard at practice – he shows a video montage of his skills progressing on the court.
“In this moment, I had two choices,” he said. “Two choices you guys are going to have for the rest of your life – I could get bitter, or I could get better”
LeBeau says he achieved his dreams, got a college basketball scholarship, and went on to star in television, movies, and commercials with NBA athletes. Now he’s sharing those lessons with kids around the country, and wants to help inspire students’ confidence to go after big goals.
“The biggest obstacle you’ll ever have to overcome in your life is you. It doesn’t matter what other people say or think, it only matters what you think,” he said.
The presentation kick starts a new year-long mental health curriculum for the roughly 150 Haines middle and high school students. LeBeau’s program is called ‘The Attitude Advantage’ and he said in an interview that he provides virtual one-on-one coaching and monthly sessions with mental health experts on developing goals, optimism, and overcoming challenges.
“They have to learn how to deal with adversity. They have to know how to deal with failure, because that’s real life,” Lebeau said. “Real life pandemics are gonna happen. You’re not going to get the job, you’re not going to make the all star team, and either you have some resilience and grit or else you crumble. And we see a lot of people crumbling right now. So that’s something that we really emphasize inside our program is to build self esteem and build confidence. But you can’t just give someone that they have to earn it by accomplishing something, and they have to work towards it.”
Freshman Ashlyn Ganey said she appreciated his message
“I think it’s pretty cool, and I liked how he talked about his experiences with other people and how they saw him, as being such a small guy, and where he got to where he is now.”
Haines Principal Lilly Boron says it’s exciting to launch the program right after Haines’ first basketball tournament this past weekend.
“To have him here and talk to us right after our first successful basketball tournament, where everyone could come,” Boron said. “It’s the first unrestricted event that we’ve had in two and a half years.”
The program is $25,000 funded by CARES Act funding, and approved by the Haines School Board.
Boron says it’ll also provide training for Haines staff and any parents who are interested, to help support kids through challenging times.
“There’s so many barriers to students these days, whether that’s social media, or just the challenges that we face with the pandemic or just their own self esteem,” Boron said. “We want to give everyone the tools so we’re working to support kids from every angle, whether that’s from school or from home, or just students helping each other. So I’m looking forward to it.”
After the assembly, a gaggle of kids run up to LeBeau with thank yous and comments, and the rest head to lunch where he’ll catch up with them. LeBeau tells KHNS he sees himself in the kids of small southeast communities like Haines, and he hopes his underdog story can inspire.
“You just never know what people are going through,” LeBeau said. “And sometimes, it’s the kids that have the biggest smiles that seem like they have it all together that are going through the hardest things.”
In Haines, the program is for grades six through 12, and is scheduled to run for the next year.
Last month, the Haines School hosted Nick Hanson, aka the Eskimo Ninja, seven time American Ninja Warrior athlete and motivational speaker from Unalakleet, Alaska. He spoke to students about the importance of knowing who you are and being proud of where you come from.
