Students and parents from the North Schuylkill community listened to a world-renowned speaker on Tuesday.
Doctor Adolph Brown, also known as "Doc Brown", is a former educator, mental health professional, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker of more than 30 years.Tuesday's visit was Brown's fourth time making a stop at North Schuylkill in the past four years where he has spoken to staff in person and virtually. Tuesday students and parents were invited to hear him speak.
Brown uses his life experiences of growing up without a father, having a hard time in school, his older brother being murdered, being made fun of because of the hand me down clothes he wore and because his family did not have a lot of money as he was being raised by a single mother. Doctor Brown was the first in his family to graduate high school, but he didn't stop there, he would go on to earn his Bachelors degree, as well as Masters degree and Doctorate.
During the day Tuesday, Brown spoke to students in grades 5 through 12, in two separate assemblies, that focused on life, but specifically focused on bullying and being kind to others. One of Brown's quotes that he stressed was "It's not about how you start; it's how you finish".
The core of his message was based on the idea that everyone carries a backpack. In that proverbial backpack are the problems we accumulate and are carrying with us every day.On Tuesday evening, many parents and students along with staff members made up the audience, Doctor Brown reminded us that we need to make time for ourselves.
"Parents often put the cart before the horse, we forget that we brought children into our lives. Often times our lives revolve around the children and then when they grow up and are gone, we forget what it's like to relate to one another." Brown said.
"What happens when we don't take care of ourselves as parents, who is going to be there for the children?" Brown added.
After the presentation, North Schuylkill Superintendent Dr. Robert Ackell said, "Doctor Brown brought the most unique, relevant, relatable, and entertaining presentation to our staff members the last two years in August. We realized Doc Brown was the perfect medicine our community needed right now."
Staff member Mandy Reed, who is employed as paraprofessional was excited to hear Doctor Brown speak again. "This will be the fourth time I've had the experience to listen to him speak. He is such a genuine human being and at the end of the day, he just gets it. He knows what it's like to struggle, to be judged and to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. He reminds us that we have to empty that backpack and to continue to think of others, and before we judge them, think about what that person may be carrying in their backpack, we has humans need to be empathetic to others."
After the presentation, Brown spent over a half hour and spoke one-on-one with school staff and parents that stood in line to meet him.
The next stop for Brown was Good Morning America on Wednesday morning where he spoke on his new show "The Parent Test", which premiers on ABC Thursday evening.
"Doc Brown" currently resides in Virginia with his wife Marla. They have 8 children together.
