Bryan Skavnak turned golf professional right out of college in 2000. But the Brooklyn Park father of two tweens quickly realized competition wasn't his thing. Kindness was.
Now he's taking lessons learned on the course into the classroom.
Skavnak, 43, is founder of Be the Nice Kid, a business venture that engages students in storytelling and activities designed to build character, courage and compassion. He meets kids where they are, figuratively, and literally, in assemblies, lunchrooms — even during recess. He shares stories of his own childhood as a quiet kid who got picked on occasionally and of his realization after decades of playing golf that there will always be people who are better, smarter, cooler.
But everybody can be patient. Honest. Nice.
While Be The Nice Kid launched about 10 years ago, Skavnak said his message is more urgent than ever, due to the pandemic and the isolation it's created.
"Kids haven't had a normal school year in one-and-a-half years," he said. "It's still not normal yet. A lot of kids just don't know how to interact. We talk a lot about that. You've got to think about other people. We talk a lot about patience — you're not going to get this right right away."
Skavnak graduated from St. John's University in 2000 and turned golf pro that fall. The author of "Happy Golf Starts Here" also began teaching golf to kids through a rec program in Plymouth, which he's still doing in the summer.
The turning point for Skavnak was 2011, when his mother died from lymphoma. "All of a sudden, there were things way more important than golf," he said.
