When I did my student teaching our cohort leader said that only 10% of all teachers are great. 90% are good, average, below average, not good. I promised myself right then and there that I would do all I could to be part of the 10%.
What I am going to write I hope does not seem too much like me patting myself on the back. It is not meant to stroke my ego. It is meant to inspire and show that you can make a difference. I also want to document this so that I do not forget it.
This year at the school we added a new class: advisory. There was really no curriculum and it wasn't graded, it is just mainly a home base class to do announcements and have an opportunity to keep track of students. Early on I wanted to make this something more than a glorified homework class. I wanted to make a difference. I would have my first opportunity early on with a school wide food drive.
The food drive was made into a competition between advisory classes. I thought this would be a good chance to see what this class was capable of. I really pushed them on this, if you asked them they would tell you that I was real competitive on this. At first they said how can we compete with the other classes we are the smallest class(18), most classes have 24/25. I ensured them that not all the students in each class would bring anything. And so they brought in as much as they could for two weeks. In the end they brought in more than the rest of the school combined. We have over 900 students, my 18 outdid 882+ kids. It was then that I realized the potential for greatness.
We decided we wanted to make a difference. Our plan was to do something for someone each week. It could be a student, teacher, counselor, janitor, etc... it didn't matter, we would just do like a random act of kindness. I must say that none of these were really random, they were well thought out but never with the expectation of reward. We were going to do things because it was the right thing to do. At this point I could tell about 50 or so different stories each significant in its own right, alas I will pick my favorites to show you the caliber of the students character.
Our school counselor was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is a tender and loving person. One of the best people at the school. She is from the Czech Republic and tells a tremendous story of her emigration here. We decided to have her speak to the class about her journey. Meanwhile we had a plan. The day before a few of the students had the school sign a big poster during lunch as a show of support. We made our own card for her and signed it. The finishing touch was perhaps the most genius, one of the girls cut up pink ribbons and brought tiny pins and we wore them over our breast as a show of support. Needless to say this counselor was touched and teary eyed.
I realized these kids really grasped the concept of service when the following things happened. Dennis approached me and asked if I knew Nancy the janitor, I replied that I did. He then said that we really ought to do something for her because she was a hard worker and didn't seem to get any recognition. I told him I thought it was a great idea, so they made her a card and then did her work for a few days.
Another instance was when Rebecca was in a class with a substitute. I imagine not much was going on so she rallied the class to make a poster for the cancer stricken counselor. Instead of wasting class time doing nothing, she had the class write comments of support and sign a poster for her. I found out the next day when I was in the office and the principal was commending the teacher for doing this. The teacher said she didn't know what this was about. I did a little research and found out it was Rebecca.
The grandest of any of these just happened last week. There was a two mile walk/run for special ed. Juan participated in the event and finished first. After finishing he noticed that Dallin, a student confined to a wheelchair, was missing. He proceeded to find Dallin in the school and of his own volition brought him out on the track. Dallin wanted to go fast, so Juan ran behind and pushed him. He ran another ten laps, or two and a half more miles.
In all I am guessing the students donated around $400 of their own money to all of our causes. I didn't donate a cent. On one occasion we bought donuts for a special ed class. One of the girls paid for all of the donuts herself. She asked that each kid help out, as was customary, the special ed teacher heard and pulled out some money and offered to help pay. She refused saying that we had brought the donuts for his class.
There is a certain bond each of feels for every member of the class. Doing all these projects made us a close knit group and I have to admit that if they were eighth graders I probably wouldn't have been able to leave the school.
I have done many worthwhile things in my life, none rank higher than what we accomplished. Not only did we help out a lot of people, these kids looked for opportunities to help others out. Last night the kids received their due as we went to the West Valley City Council and they were recognized by the mayor and city council for their efforts. It was a neat event. And went even better that I had hoped. Parents, family, and neighbors came in support of their student to the meeting. The council members each stated their admiration for what the students have done. It was a great way to end the year and my time at the school.
I can't even imagine this year without the 18 students, and the 33 minute non academic pass/fail class. Everyday was fun and meaningful. Everyday we made a difference.
On a final note I am writing this last part more for me to remember, again it is not to be a braggart more to show just how big a difference one can make. On my out one of the parents started to cry as she thanked me for teaching her daughter. She explained that she was sad because her younger daughter would never have me as a teacher since I was leaving. Another parent told me that all his daughter ever talked about was my class. He thanked me and told me that he has never heard of a better teacher. I ended the year writing each student a personalized letter, they all responded. It was a neat experience one I will cherish. Life is about making good memories, this one my best one yet.
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