One day in early March, a visitor arrived at Chad Dirkse’s office at Chattanooga Christian School on South Broad Street.
Mr. Dirkse, president of the city’s largest independent school, ushered the man inside and shut the door. The visitor, who has asked to remain anonymous, slid an envelop across Mr. Dirkse’s desk.
“He was every emotional,” Mr. Dirkse remembers. “He said he had been watching our athletic teams for four years, just as an observer.”
Inside the envelope, the man said, were two $500 checks — one each in the name of Chattanooga Christian School athletes, Hannah Farlett, 18, and Chauncey Simmons, 17. There was just one condition attached to the money: Hannah and Chauncey alone could decide how to spend the $1,000, the donor said.
The girls, both seniors at CCS, have been teammates since childhood. They play with the sort of shared heartbeat that comes from spending thousands of hours side by side on soccer fields and basketball courts. Even to a casual observer, their brand of tenacity, tempered with good sportsmanship, is inspirational.
According to Mr. Dirkse, the donor said he wanted to prove that actions speak louder than words.
“He wanted to encourage folks to have impact on other people who are watching them,” Mr. Dirkse said.
One day last week, I visited Chattanooga Christian School to talk with Hannah and Chauncey. It wasn’t so much the size of the anonymous gift but the idea behind it that intrigued me.
“I’m always going to wonder who it was,” Chauncey said. “I’ve tried to think of everybody — even strangers — who came up and congratulated me after a game.”
Added Hannah, “We were both humbled. We’ve had a lot of success in academics and sports, but we’ve never been honored for character before.”
“This is a good way to finish our senior year,” Chauncey said.
Hannah said the gift validated some of her parents’ favorite homilies.
“My parents always says that your character is what you do when no one is watching,” she said. (Or in this case, when someone you don’t know is watching.)
“My Dad always tells me, ‘You may be the light people see that helps them see Jesus through you.'”
The girls have decided to use $500 to help purchase new warm-ups for the school’s basketball team. They have placed the other $500 in a scholarship fund for CCS students with financial hardships.
Listening to these two young women — poised, athletic, smart — my mind drifted to their good parenting.
When treasured children graduate from high school, I am told, it puts some parents into a tailspin. But a tribute like this anonymous compliment to Hannah and Chauncey must lift their parents’ hearts with the full force of a sonic boom.
To suggest a human interest story for this column, e-mail Features Editor Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.