Today we had an extraordinary visitor at Strichen School speaking to all the pupils at a special assembly. We were contacted last week to ask if we would like a visit from a ‘Strong Man’ to put on a show for the children and to tell them a little about his life story. We knew very little about what was going to happen – except that the visitor would break a baseball bat, bend an iron bar and roll up a frying pan!
So, when our visitors arrived we did not know what we were in for. But, after speaking to all the children and staff for half an hour we were all amazed at his feats of strength but even more inspired by his life story which he shared with us all.
Our visitor was Mr Jon Pritikin who lives in California with his wife and daughter. They were with him on the visit along with representatives from one of the local churches in Fraserburgh.
Jon had the children gasping in amazement very quickly by ripping a yellow pages phone book in half. He then took a frying pan, yes a frying pan, and rolled it up like a newspaper! He then took an iron bar, and before bending it in half while holding it in his teeth, he took two girls out and got them to hold on to each end of the bar before lifting the bar right up in the air and twirled them round! The children were just amazed.
He then told us a very moving story about a young boy who had learning difficulties and was bullied all through his school life and was told repeatedly that he would not succeed in life. This boy persevered and eventually made it to university and graduated with a degree despite still being treated very badly by people. He finished off the story by telling us all that he was the boy in the story and he had never given up and had battled on to make sure the bullies did not win.
He know travels the world with his family and shares his story – and he says he has spoken to over 5 million people in 38 or 39 countries round the world.
To find out more look at his website: www.feelthepower.org
We would like to thank Jon for coming to visit us and sharing his amazing story with us. This was an afternoon the children will remember for a long, long time.