Deciding to Care

When I graduated from college and made the choice to take a teaching job 45 minutes away in a small community I got a lot of raised eyebrows. Why was I choosing to drive so far to work in a podunk town where nepotism and farms were the cornerstone? Why did I decide to accept a job in a falling down school building making a minor pittance compared to what I could have made in some other districts? People just didn't get it. Surprisingly the decision was not hard at all. The minute I stepped foot in the school and talked to the warm empathetic principal I made my choice. He knew all the kids who would be in my class and their parents personally. As a matter of fact the week after I accepted the job we actually drove to each house in his pick up truck and visited the students so that they would feel more at ease with a new teacher. On the ride to each house the principal described each child's strengths and their weaknesses. He really cared.

There were never enough supplies and I often had to scour garage sales to cover my lessons. I had a student that lived in a one room apartment with his mom and 4 brothers (yes ONE room). Some of the kids would come to school in the morning with their stomach's growling because they hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. One boy refused to walk and we finally figured out why. It was because he was wearing shoes that were two sizes too small because those were all he had. As difficult as it was to teach in sub par conditions and see some of the hardships I saw I would do it all again. It has made me a better person. A better mother. A better friend. I know that I made a difference in the kid's education and even more importantly their lives. I cared.

When I look at the schools today I see less and less of the caring mentality and more and more of the only thing that matters is test score mentality. Don't get me wrong I want my children to learn and get good grades but I also want them to feel the warmth that goes along with that. When a child is at school they are more then just a name on a roster. They have hobbies and siblings and in some cases scary things affecting their lives and learning. They are kids and can't block out tears and laughter to focus on reading and arithmetic. It is a mistake to phase out sympathy and empathy from the classroom. Turning hugs into high fives might not be the way to go. Unless of course we want to create a bunch of cold hearted Harvard grads. Personally I would rather see community college bound good, empathetic people instead.