Kevin Atlas encourages PHS students to "Own your nub!" at assembly

Submitted by katie.kelly on
Kevin poses on our Lion statue with PHS administration
Kevin Atlas speaking to PHS student body
Leadership of PHS small group session with Kevin Atlas
Leadership of PHS small group session with Kevin Atlas

“Own your nub!”encouraged Kevin Atlas, our guest speaker at Tuesday’s (4/19/2022) assembly for our PHS students. Atlas was born under difficult circumstances, with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and arm, eventually leading to him to be born missing most of his left arm, what he proudly calls his “nub.” He was the first athlete with a disability to play Division-1 basketball in the NCAA and then professional basketball in Asia. 

In our assembly, he described how he learned to embrace his nub and use it to help him be successful. Using stories from his own life, he taught our students to grow in empathy towards others, to reorient how they view their own individual circumstances, and to be more brave. “Nobody grows by staying in their comfort zone,” he said.

In a powerful moment, Atlas said that everybody “wants to be appreciated, but are slow to appreciate others.” He promoted his #believeinyouchallenge, which encourages students to step out of their comfort zone and attend a school event that they haven’t been to before to show classmates that they matter. Students are encouraged to take the challenge and post the pictures to social media using the #believeinyouchallenge hashtag. To drive his message home, he invited the football team to attend the school’s band concert in May and to show them the same support that they hope to receive in return. Then he invited all the students to think about how they can follow suit. 

After the big assembly, he held a small group session with several of our school’s student leader groups including the Student Council, Especially for Athletes council, student Social Media Team, and Latinos in Action. These student-leaders were given great instruction on how to turn good intentions into action.

Check out his “Believe In  You” series on YouTube.

 

Attributions
Dr. Rockwood