Noble Academy is a small school focused on learning, and at the same time, it is a place of big friendships, where some families find a tremendous sense of belonging and community. In this episode, a 9th grade student and his mom talk about how much the relationships they have made at Noble mean to them.
Want to hear more stories of deep friendships formed at Noble?
Check out these episodes from Season 4:
Episode 16: Getting in the Game (Athletics)
Episode 11: Noble Family Joy
Episode 10: Always a Noble Family
Episodes 5 and 6: A two-parter on families who relocated from other cities/states/countries specifically so a child could attend Noble Academy
Gayle:
Noble Academy is a small school focused on learning, and at the same time, it is a place of big friendships, where some families find a tremendous sense of belonging and community. A number of episodes this season have focused on relationships, and if you want to hear more of them that you might have missed, look in today's show notes, where we will highlight stories from alums and parents talking about the impact of their Noble friends on their lives. Today's episode is special, because it's the first time this year we are going to hear from a current Noble student, and from his mom. The third member of their family, Efren, spoke on episode 11, our episode about Noble Academy Joy, and he produces this podcast. I couldn't do the Blue and Gold chat without him, and if I had to try, it certainly wouldn't be as much fun.
So now let me introduce you to Efren's ninth grade son, who I want to thank for what he brings to Noble Academy each day, and that includes his wonderful parents.
Gable: I'm Gabe. I'm in ninth grade and I've been at Noble for four years now.
Well, in sixth grade there were only seven of us and it was tough because each one of us were different. Some of us were quiet, some of us were loud. But once you got to the second quarter, it was much easier to talk through the class because you knew who everybody was. You started to make friendships in classes. Um, and if you played sports with you would get you would have more friends. So I played sports in sixth grade and I got to meet seventh graders and eighth graders that I didn't know.
I'm sort of an extrovert, so it's really easy to make friends once I get to know them, but if I don't, then I become really shy.
I still hang out with my friends that I've had from sixth grade through 8th and then the ones I've made I hang out with outside of school.
Bea:
I'm Bea. I have a son that's in ninth grade.he's been at Noble since sixth grade.I came to Nobleas a parent who had gone through I think some growing pains with my personal friendships after Gabe had gotten diagnosed with his learning difference.in thatI didn't have really any other friends who had children who had learning differences. And so it was really hard for me to talk about that with my friend group.I didn't feel as though they understood what I was going through as a parent. And so I kind of almost shut down my friend group, meaning that I I wasn't hanging out with my friends as much as I used to because I felt like they just didn't get me or get where I was in my life's journey.Once Gabe went to Noble though, it was really interesting in that I met parents and new friends pretty easily.you know, Gabe talked about sports and that's really when I first started to meet parents. I will I think my first interaction was he had a flag football game and I got there early and there was another mom who was there early as well. And we were kind of sitting on opposite ends of the bleachers from each other and she came over and she was a new parent, new to Greensboro, had moved here for her child to go to Noble and we just kind of struck up a conversation and then as more parents started to trickle into that game, I started meeting more and more moms. Um, and it was really interesting because all of these moms, their kids continued to play sports. And so I continued to see this, you know, group of parents, specifically moms, um, and a couple of dads, um, you know, for months because sports for middle school is pretty much non-stop. You don't get a big break. Um, so it was really welcoming to just kind of have this unsaid understanding that, hey, I've gone through this journey. You're gone through this journey. I You didn't have to explain yourself and what you were going through as a parent. Um, and so I mean I still talk to these moms, some of them weekly, um, about all sorts of things. And so for me, my friend friend group has really really grown, since Gabe attended Noble.
We have a couple that we'll go and have dinner with, um, about once every three months, and, you know, we talk about just kind of what we do and what we're going through.I have another mom that I talk to probably daily.and oftentimes it's about the struggles that we go through as a parent with a child that has a learning difference. You know, just those daily struggles. We get together for coffee. I mean, it's really anytime somebody needs something, we're kind of there for each other. But we do other things, too. We get together and have dinner and have, you know, get togethers and that sort of thing outside of, you know, just school. Um, but it's nice to know that I have friends that I can count on really at any time to, you know, help with anything really.
Gayle:
I have noticed that you your whole family not just do like the shadow visits, but you do other outreach so that when new people come to Noble to look at it or to relocate as you mentioned that you you and your family have several things you do to be the first person to be the warm, welcoming, friendly face.
Bea:
Noble offers several opportunities for informational sessions where uh potential parents can come or not just parents butI guess your grown-up as we like to call it can come and find out about Noble. Um, when we have those opportunities, I always try my best to be able to volunteer during that time where they then take and do kind of a roundtable discussion where potential incoming families can ask questions of current families. So, I know we had an event like that recently and it's just great to be able to try and convey and discuss with potential new families what Noble is like. I think sometimes there's a lot of apprehension about you know socially and you know how is this going to affect my family and I always you know when we have those settings I always tell the potential incoming parents you know there's no question off the table you know ask ask whatever you'd like and that also during the summer new students come in and have to do some intake testing. Not a big deal. It's just trying to figure out where they are and how best to place them in classes and parents come and in the past I've helped host a roundtable discussion at those events as well for the parents where we just kind of go around everybody talks about you know how they got to Noble why they chose Noble and I try to you know explain to them what they can expect in the first few months. Um, one of the big things that I like to talk about is I call it the October sigh. Um, oftentimes you find yourself constantly advocating for your child. Um, when you're not at Noble, you're having to do that and it's almost like another job. And when you get to Noble, um, you suddenly realize that after those first round of progress reports and possibly report cards come out, usually in around in the October time frame, that you're not spending all of that time having to advocate for a child. You're not at school every day. You're not constantly on the phone or in your email. And you kind of let out this huge sigh and realize that you get to be just a parent that you're you don't have to constantly be this advocate.so I try to explain that in both of those settings. I love participating in those roundtable discussions and helping to try and put incoming new incoming parents and families at ease and let them know that they, you know, have somebody here's here I am. If you want to talk, you know, here's how you can get a hold of me.
Gayle
If I'm understanding what you're saying, not only have you been able to make connections and friendships because you have a shared experience with other parents in the same boat at Noble, but you also have more time, more bandwidth, and more energy to then do something with those people
BEA:
Oh, I'd agree. I mean, when you suddenly realize that you have all of this extra, you know, what feels like extra time, it does allow you to explore your own personal friendships and your own personal connections and, you know, volunteer at Noble or, you know, make more friends at Noble and do things, you know, with your friend group. It definitely, um, it gives you almost as a parent And particularly, you know, in my case, you know, we'd been advocating for Gabe for gosh, three three years by the time he ended up at Noble. And I felt like I was constantly having to be in front of a teacher, you know, or an administrator. Even though we were getting great support in the public school, you constantly had to be on top of it and you just didn't get a break from it. And when you're at Noble, like I said, by October, you're kind of going, you know, my email's not going off. all the time. My phone's not going off all the time. A, is everything okay? And it is. It's always great because if not, somebody's going to tell you at Noble, which is great. Um, but it does, it allows you to kind of sit back and realize and almost kind of refind yourself. Um, you know, you've spent so much time being an advocate that you've kind of, for me, forgotten how to be just mom. And so, it allowed me to kind of step back and be like, hey, I can be mom again. And, hey, here's all these other moms. that I can be friends with and I don't have to, you know, give a presentation on why my child's like this or why I'm like this. They just get it.
Gayle:
That is beautiful. I'm so happy for your family and I'm so happy for all the people who get to connect with your family who get the benefit of all of that support and community and warmth.
As always, I end today's episode thankful to everyone who contributed to it, to Efren and his family, and to the warm, welcoming, wonderful community at Noble Academy.