Be Different
Originally Published March 2023
Thursday, March 30, is Major League Baseball’s much anticipated Opening Day! I grew up in Eastern Ohio watching the Pittsburgh Pirates. Willie Stargill, Dave Parker, and Kent Tekulve were the big names. Later after college I moved to Baseball Town, USA - Cincinnati, Ohio - where Opening Day is not just a day but a city-wide event. For people in these cities, baseball is serious business. Baseball is history. The Cincinnati Redstockings were the first professional baseball club. Pittsburgh boasts one of the greatest players of all time, Roberto Clemente. Baseball is tradition. Opening Day in Cincinnati always starts with the famous Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. Baseball is… well it’s “as American as apple pie.”
But while there is so much that we love about the stability of baseball in our culture, sometimes you have to change things. Why? Because the world changes and people change. Enter the Savannah Bananas.
Now I have to admit that I was not sure what to make of this unorthodox baseball team from Savannah, Georgia that one of my co-workers shared with me a few months ago. The Savannah Bananas are a fan-focused, family-friendly organization that has one goal. Make baseball fun! Owner Jesse Cole had a vision to do something different with America’s pastime. He wanted to do something “creative and new.” From the activities in the stands and on the field to updated rules that keep the game moving (a two-hour time limit, no bunts, no walks, and no visits to the mound), the Bananas want the fan experience to be something that they don’t get at any other baseball game. Jesse Cole set out to be “dramatically different.” They are, and it is hugely successful!
In a world where we are so often pressured to be like others, the Savannah Bananas show us that being different can be exactly what we, and the world around us, need. And that is what career technical education is doing. We are doing things differently.
We don’t just talk to students about careers. We don’t just let students visit industry. We don’t just present information about the future. We let our students learn by doing. They work in the industry. They are prepared to make decisions about their futures with accurate and timely information. This approach is not what one typically experiences in a traditional educational setting. And this different approach is exactly what some of our students need. In fact, we have experienced record applications for the 23-24 school year, and we are preparing to expand facilities in the future so that more students can have a different learning environment.
I don’t want to suggest that being different is better. It is not always, or maybe isn’t better for every individual. But a willingness to rethink how things have always been can be a benefit and can open doors to future opportunities. Career technical education is not “better, just because” but it is different and for some of our learners who need something different, that is better.
I will always love the tradition of Reds Opening Day. I will forever be proud that Pittsburgh is the City of Champions. But I appreciate that the Savannah Bananas understand that sometimes baseball should be more fan-focused, more engaging, and more fun. Sometimes we all just need to be different.
