Oh hey everybody! It's been a long time since I've actually posted on this thing that I created! Good thing I have Nate to keep everyone updated since I've been working my brains out trying to solve our nation's poverty one high school student at a time! So a little about what I've been doing:
Well this week I finally got to meet my students. Oh my gosh you guys, I just love them. It's amazing to me how quickly they have weeded themselves into my heart. So so so amazing. So since I only have 11 students, all African American, let me introduce you to them:
Crystal: Crystal is the chicka who has all the answers. She laughs at all our jokes, and seems to already know what we are teaching. She also wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up. She is honestly a pleasure to have in class, and pushes many of the others to think beyond the obvious.
Lester: Lester is in our 11th and 12th grade class and looks like he is about 12. He is quiet and reserved, but incredibly bright. We've been reading a novel this week and he has some of the most amazing insights, but he has a hard time writing down the ideas that he can articulate via verbal communication.
Devonte: Devonte is hilarious, he is very relatable and always has a smile on his face. His dad is very focused on him working hard in school and doing his best. So Devonte comes every day prepared to learn and ready to work hard.
Lakeisha: Lakeisha is so so so quiet. She is afraid of answering a question wrong, but most of the time she has the right answer. I'm always impressed with how Lakeisha tries very hard to incorporate the concepts that we teach into her writing and reading. She is very reflective and is pushing herself. She's very behind in english, so I'm excited to see her working so hard to improve!
George: We were told by the legal teacher that George would give us some trouble because he has some emotional issues. However, he hasn't been hardly any trouble at all. In some ways he tried to question our authority, but we've noticed that he really just doesn't like to be singled out. I think this is because he is really struggling in English--he is still failing most of our assessments, but I know he has the ability to succeed, so he will.
Ptah: Ptah is quiet intelligent, and a deep thinker, if you can get past his sleeping! I do not know what that boy is doing at night, but it is not sleeping. We think he might be a baby-daddy because in his survey when we asked who the most important person in his life was, he said his "woman/wifey". He also said that where he saw himself in the next 5 years is working as an accountant with a wife and kids. Very cute.
Cameron: Cameron showed up the first day of class, but then missed the next 3 days of class. The rumors are that he was jumped and that is why he hasn't come to class again. We can't get ahold of his mom to verify this or not. The legal teacher thinks that it might be gang related. Needless to say we are all very worried.
Jordan: Jordan is hilarious. He has a huge smile and is a favorite of the ladies. Hilariously, they are always trying to flirt with him any chance they can. So funny. He is good at convincing the rest of the class to go along with what we have going. Just a good natured leader.
Deantae: Deantae is a lot like Jordan, generally happy to be there and willing to go along with what we are doing. He is very behind, so we have a lot of work to do to get him on track, but he has a will because he really wants to graduate high school.
Marquiesha: Marqueisha is so smart and wants to go to De Paul University to study accounting. She works hard and catches onto concepts quickly. She has a 9 month old who she loves like crazy and loves to talk about him. My only concern with Marquiesha is that she has talked about taking a break after high school before college, and I am worried that break will expand for the rest of her life. It's better to just go right after high school, you are already in the habit of school.
Jarrell: Jarrell is an athlete who is very behind. We have a lot of work to do with him, and he seems to be sleeping all the time in class. He is hesitant to give answers in class, i think because he doesn't want to give a wrong answer. We are going to have to encourage him to share with us, to be willing to even try. We have to convince him that he can so that he will try.
I love each and every one of these students. I honestly believe that each one of these students will go onto college and end poverty for themselves. They have the desire and they have the capability. Thursday we finished the book The House on Mango Street, which is about a girl who grew up in the poverty neighborhoods of Chicago, and decides that she wants to leave this place and never come back. At the end of the book an old woman grabs her face and says, "you have the ability to get out, but you have to come back. You have to come back for the others who cannot leave as easily as you." So the main character says, that she's leaving because mango street cannot hold her forever, but she's going to come back for everyone else. My student George, just sat there at the end. When his reading group asked him what he thought, he said, "It was good. It was really relatable because it was like real life. It was a good book." and I could tell that this had struck a chord with him. George is hoping to get a football scholarship to get out.
These kids know what they are facing, and they are pushing forward to change their reality. They really are amazing, and I love them so much.
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