You are a winner...

My school has a lovely song we sing to our students. By lovely, I mean really cheesy. The lyrics say "Winner, looking at a winner. And I like what I see...You are a winner... (point to students and repeat A LOT)." There is a lot more to the song, but you get the point. It is supposed to be sung every month at our 'pep rallies' aka Winner's Circle. The students hated singing it so much that we decided to cut it out of the monthly meetings. But tonight at graduation the students, friends and family were dancing and singing and having a blast with the song. The lyrics were still the same, but the meaning was different. For some, they celebrated the first person to ever finish high school in their family. For others it was a celebration of overcoming a drug addiction or gang involvement enough to successfully finish school. For others it was a step in the right direction to be able to support their young children.

Most graduations you have those one or two families who yell and scream and make fools of themselves. At our graduation, all the people in the room yell and scream and dance in the isles. The fools are the families who quietly clap.

I grew up in a neighborhood where teenagers were expected to finish school and go to college. It was a huge let down if someone didn't go to a 'real' college but instead a community college. Everyone was expected to go somewhere and very few people let their families down. I was expected to get a degree and get a middle class job. And I did. I lived up to my family and friends' expectations.

Most my students' families also had expectations. Many of the girls are expected to get pregnant before they're 16, and they do. Many of the boys (and some girls) are expected to get so heavily involved in drugs or gangs that they drop out of school, and they do. Some of those same students see no point to school because they expect to be killed before they reach 30. Many of my students expect no one to care if they stop coming to classes, and no one does. Sometimes their previous schools take a year to figure out they have dropped out and only then is truancy filed. Their parents (if they even have parents in their life still) could care less. My students live up to the expectations set on them.

My job is not perfect. It is so stressful. My students fail so many times. But tonight I was reminded why it is worth the dedication. A little over 60 students EXCEEDED expectations. They managed to finish school, some of them with no one encouraging them along the way. No students should be more proud then these students. Tonight I saw pride in the faces of students who never thought they could succeed. I saw their hope of a better life. Some will go on to 4-year colleges, some the community college, and some trade schools. Others will work hard at the jobs they can get to support their families.

Over 50% of my students failed English 1 or 2 this last term. It’s very discouraging. In a year, over half those failed students will have completely dropped out of school. But the others will rise to the expectations I placed on them in my class. I can't wait to see those students walk across that stage. Most will probably not remember me in a few years, but I am so blessed to be a small part of their success. They have overcome obstacles I could not even imagine facing. And that is why I can sing the cheesy song with tears in my eyes...they truly are winners.