Highs and Lows

Every Friday, my students and I do this thing called "Highs and Lows"...the best part and worst part of your week. The rule is you cannot share a "low" without a "high" because its not good to focus on just the negative. I realize when it comes to my job, I have not been doing that...so here are some "Highs" from the year...names are changed for legal reasons :)

Manuel read the book Night completely on his own and loved it. He told me it was the first book he read since Green Eggs and Ham. He was so excited. He and I had many great conversations during and after the book. As the term unfolded, he dropped out to work full time. Although I wish he was still in school, Manuel is determined to be a good father to his newborn son. I am glad I got to make an impact on his life before he left.

James transformed himself into an amazingly convincing lawyer, defending Jack Merridew for his alleged crimes in Lord of the Flies. Not only was it wonderful acting that belonged in a court drama, but this gangster had everyone entertained. He had rarely succeeded in school and loved that he was able to do so well on the project. He also loved that he had a chance to carry out his dream to be an entertainer. (Unfortunately he was so good at it because he has had a bit too much experience in court and I think that is why he is no longer at our school...hopefully I will see him back next year).

Selena, who hated my class and me the first term, was in trouble in all her classes often for anger problems and fighting. She has passed all my classes and is starting to open up to me. She read ahead in our class book (Night) just because she wanted to during TAKS week and she is starting to show some of her real emotions, especially when we talked about abuse. I can tell its a part of her story and I am praying for more chances to talk to her.

John and his brother dropped out of school at the beginning of the year, shortly after their fifteenth birthdays, and have been out all year. They just came back last week. Although they are disappointed to be in the same class yet again, (tends to happen when you drop out in the middle of a term) John has a really good attitude this time around- I think he is finally mature enough to make it this time around.

David is one of the smartest students I have seen at my school. Last term, he skipped often and seemed to be on drugs every day. He never did his work and did not seem to care. I know he had some serious legal intervention, which may seem bad from his perspective, but now he is such a blessing to my class. He is doing all his work and wanting to research the Holocaust above and beyond what we learn in class. He is teaching me new things each day. He keeps me on my toes and calls me out on anything I don't seem to know well (a lot more than it should be). He is on his 4th year as a 9th grader and I think he is finally ready to move to 10th grade!

Amanda, one of the angriest looking girls I have ever seen, was placed in my advisory. The first time I saw her, she was in a Playboy Bunny jacket (totally out of dress code) and I was afraid to say anything- she looked scary. I figured she would be trouble. But God had other plans. I have never had any student open up to me so much. She has shared so much of her struggles. This year, her son was born. She managed to get off drugs so she could be a good mother. She had her own mother taken from her a few weeks ago...her own mother who helped Amanda and all her sisters become drug addicts. Her 12 year old sister is in foster care and still using drugs. Amanda is determined to help influence her positively. She comes to me to talk almost daily.

Juan has been a student of mine since my very first term. He was in my writing class and refused to write any essays...so he failed. He and I started talking and I learned that when he was in 7th grade, his teacher told him his writing was horrible along with some other choice words. The teacher probably had a bad day and thought nothing of it. Juan had not written any essays since. In the last two years, through encouragement from teachers, Juan had the courage to write again and finally passed ELA TAKS. He still needs to write an essay for my English class, then he can graduate. Although he hates writing, Night was his favorite book so is going to write it. I will get to see him graduate in June! I am not sure I could be more excited for anyone else except maybe my own child someday. I cannot wait to see him walk across that stage!

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.