So Long Houston, Hello Mississippi Delta!

Wow, this has been one of the most intense, thankless, yet blessful periods of my life.  Never before have I so intensly dedicated myself to a single effort.  But you know what?  Every last minute of it was worth it.  I started the year with 10 incredibly bright and talented 7th grade math students.  All had in some way shape or form managed to fail to move on to the 8th grade, many for the second, third, or fourth time.  What started off as an immense challenge for me culminated in a moment that was nothing short of awe inspiring.  In just 4 weeks my students improved their 7th grade scores an average of 130%.   Even better, all of them passed their state Math Exam and moved on to the 8th grade.

But more than anything, I learned from them.  I learned that no matter how much anybody has failed, struggled, and lost in life, they can still come back and achieve, and achieve high expectations.  I never let up on my girls when their heads hurt, or their parole officer had to talk to them last night, or when their babies kept them up late.  My expectation was that everyday they would come in, do their assigned duties, and listen for 90 minutes.  And while some days were like pulling teeth, everyday they listened, everyday they passed my quizzes, and everyday I saw progress.

On Wednesday, the day before they finished school, they took their last lesson.  It was an Algebra lesson that I had sat and slaved over, and was a lesson that I was never told to teach.  Only 4 weeks ago I had talked to one of their previous math teachers. “These kids won’t be able to do -9 + 7″ she told me.  I can’t tell you the joy that welled up in their eyes and in mine when they learned not only that their old teacher was wrong, but that they could solve for and define what the term variable meant and balance an equation adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing by a negative or positive integer.  I can’t tell you what it looks like for a young adult to realize that they have a shot at passing Algebra (The main subject that students drop out of high school over).  But let me tell you, I saw it.  I saw all of their eyes light up when they got it, when they suddenly didn’t feel like they were behind anymore, when suddenly they felt ready for 8th grade, for high school, and maybe, just maybe college.

So, yesterday, for their last day I decided I’d drop in on them in their final period right as they were realizing that they had all passed on to 8th grade.

“Mister! I did it!” they each yelled jumping up and down with a vigor that I never thought I would see from these girls.  I went outside and cried after that sight, not for what I had done, but for how proud these girls were to succeed when many a time I thought they didn’t care.

So as I look out on my final sunset in Houston Texas and as I rode away from Sharpstown Middle School earlier this afternoon, I’m reminded again the importance of this movement.  This movement is not about me, it is not about Teach For America, it is about these kids.  All of them deserve a shot, and more than anything else, with enough persistence and enough positive reinforcement, all of these kids can learn that they can achieve.

Thank you to everyone at Sharpstown Middle School, and to all of my students in room 102A.  I promise I learned a lot more from you, than you ever could have hoped to learn from me.

Advertisement