This Public School
is housed with a great deal of warm hearted, caring, and brilliant teachers,
staff, students, and parents.
Unfortunately, the tyranny of
administrators and the existing lack of accountability for their actions and
inactions in creating a hostile environment directly hamper learning, stagnates
growth, and forces great souls to leave or become complacent, abandon their
sense of skepticism and advocacy, and perceive the art of teaching as merely “a
thing to do to pay bills”. This directly asphyxiates the inspiration of
teaching and the facilitation of inspiration in the classrooms. Students pick
up on these subtleties and inevitably, themselves, become too immersed in fear
to speak-up.
For Example:
The
letter below is my reflection concerning an incident that occurred
in the middle school,
related to a topic which directly affected
the adolescent culture
everywhere in the United
States.
Unfortunately, administrators
completely mishandled the situation
and missed the perfect
opportunity to “…foster a sense of
communal
responsibility and solidarity…”
(as per our school’s
mission statement).
My voice here caused
me to be summoned, reprimanded, and
continuously harassed
by administrators.
From: Luis Perez
To: MP, BMc, JB, OR, VN, ZH, DL, JA, MR,
Apr 2, 2012
Somehow
The Energy Will Come Out
In Amistad
we try to foster a sense of community building and solidarity. In fact, such
words are woven into the very fabric of our school’s philosophy. We hold
several spirit-wear-days and engage in other activities that bring people
closer together to plan and bring forth positive change.
Late in the
day, Thursday, March 29, 2012, I learned that our middle school learners had
congregated and organized to wear hoodie-sweaters, carry around a pack of
Skittles (bite size candies), and Arizona ice-tea, in solidarity to the
unfortunate conditions surrounding a teenager that was shot and killed in
Florida by a neighborhood watchmen on February 26, 2012 (Trayvon Martin).
Our
learners manifested growth in an area we try to foster and commitment to our
school’s philosophy and they should have been appropriately recognized for such
deed. They manifested a sense of peaceful organization, community building,
solidarity, and even coordinated their own spirit-wear day for a cause they
felt strongly about.
After
learning about how poorly 802 conducted themselves with a particular teacher on
Friday, March 30, 2012, I thought it essential for all teachers that have 802
next to express their disapproval with how they handled themselves. I had mix
math with the 8th graders which consists of some 801 and some 802
students. This gave me the opportunity to direct everyone’s attention to two
different groups of students claiming to have faced a similar conflict only
dealt with it in a completely different manner and thus attained completely
distinct results.
As several
students expressed themselves I casually wrote down on the board some key terms
that they mentioned, (“so we protested”, “some one cussed at the teacher”,
“everyone was laughing at the cuss”). After listening to them for a short while
and getting past their façade of bravery, I brought their attention to how
everyone managed to, passively and directly, allow the situation to grow out of
control. I then had them all consider for a moment how one person would feel in
front of a large group that is protesting against them, talking uncontrollably,
cussing, and laughing out of control. They listened to each other say the
following words, “sad”, “alone”, “confused”, “embarrassed”, “hurt”, “angry”,
“scared”... As they listened to themselves say these words I saw much remorse
and shame in their faces.
I reminded
them that together we are very powerful, that we have the potential to destroy
or heal the spirit of a person. I reminded them that they destroyed the spirit
of this person whom was only trying to help them and they managed to look like
cold hearted individuals in the process. I reminded them that they are not cold
hearted individuals. I reminded them that they are great people, that this
teacher is a great person and did not deserve any of what occurred. I reminded
them that under no circumstances does a student cuss at a teacher or laugh when
someone else does this. I reminded them that they collectively owe this teacher
and themselves a sincere apology and a promise never to do something like
this.
All this
actually reminded me that the learners in A were cued-up to protest and
one way or another they managed to do so. I wonder if this incident would have
occurred if we were more nurturing about what they set out to initially protest
about.
Note:
Letter ended there but it is important to note that instead of supporting
students or at least allowing them a different outlet to demonstrate their
sense of solidarity for their adolescent community, administration abruptly
trampled on their passion and motivation by mandating that they cannot come to
school dressed with hoodies, that candy and cans of drinks are not allowed in
the building and will be confiscated if seen, and that they should just forget
about what they have been planning to do. When students asked for an
explanation they were unsympathetically told that the orders are not
negotiable.
School's Vision (Mission Statement) -
"A" Dual Language School is a community of learners
that embraces the unique path of each individual.
Together we foster a sense of communal responsibility
and
solidarity through the celebration of culture, language, and diversity.
Our children will move forward ready to meet the
academic, social, and
human demands of the larger community, taking with them the
magic of discovery and the power of two languages.
