A Random Act of Kindness

I have been very open about my struggle with depression.  I have come out of the darkest days, but I occasionally find a wound that is still relatively fresh.

I spent 17 years at Hamtramck High School.  I grew up there.  Sometimes I was brilliant, other times, I was an utter disaster.  At no time, however, could any one say that I did not give my all to the kids, and often times the staff, at Hamtramck. 

I resigned at the end of summer, before the first days of school, so I saw no one and texted a few people good-bye.  Since then, I really haven't heard from any of my former co-workers, even the ones I have contacted.  It's a little like I disappeared at the hands of Winston at the Ministry of Truth.  I've tried not to take the silence personally, but it hasn't been easy.  When I first took my leave, I heard from very few people and that just reinforced the notion that I could disappear and no one would care.  Luckily, my new job keeps me too busy to ruminate on these thoughts.  The medicine also helps quite a bit.

Today, I went to my mailbox and found an assortment of junk, a copy of Rolling Stone, and a card from a former co-worker.  This is a person who was always exceedingly kind and was forever complimenting Student Council, which was great because all of my administrators had their heads too far up their own asses to bother with public accolades.  Anyway, the card left me in tears.  I won't quote the whole card, but here is where the tears flowed freely:

"You can feel tremendous with your accomplishment, Toni!  We can see it in all the kids who have passed through Hamtramck and were fortunate enough to have you as an English teacher or Student Council Rep.  You always worked your "tail off" for our kids....I have been honored to work along side you."

He didn't have to write this card.  No other adult thanked me or acknowledged my work.  This was a beautiful thing.  I don't imagine it took him long to do.  A Facebook friend is always encouraging people to commit one act of Random Kindness.  This act touched me deeply, and I will try and reconcile these warm feelings with the cold sense of loss I feel when I think about others.

School Isn't Out - Yet!

The final highlight of 2013 is the fact that my school has not yet been shut down by the anti-public education privatization pirates.

This is a minor miracle, though it may have to do with a lack of process as opposed to a lack of desire on the pirates behalf.

The Koch/DeVos backed right-wingers/tea baggers had hoped to push through a last minute bill that would have expanded the powers and scope of a state-wide "turn around" district, or the EAA.  Please do not be fooled by the pretty charts.  How can any statistician claim those numbers are valid when the "district" has lost 24 percent of its student population since last year?

A bill passed the state Senate but could not muster enough votes in the House.  The bill would have given the EAA authority to take over an unlimited amount of "low performing" schools (like mine), denied workers the right to collective bargaining, stripped teachers of the ability to pay into the state pension fund, and never let a school leave the EAA's control.  Sound great, doesn't it?

Would it surprise you to find out that, when pressed for information, the EAA was a little reticent to comply?  Nah, because this venture has nothing to do with helping schools.

My school has terrible test scores.  I won't even go into the myriad of reasons for our scores.  Some tea bagging troll will come in here and call me a union thug who should be fired.  Of course, my 20 years of experience means nothing and I won't get into an intellectual, factual, and philosophical battle with an unarmed opponent.    We are, however, still an official public school .  We are not out of the woods yet.

The state superintendent Mike Flanagan promised to move more schools under the EAA's authority.  Those schools will be announced in January and I suppose we could be one of them.  For now, we wait.  Also, the EAA bill will come back for a vote.  The wealthy and the powerful will not be satiated until it has been fed with more profits from the public trust.   

A New Task

Because I have too much free time, I've taken on the task of handling the PR for a major fund raising effort for my school district. My friend John has decided to climb Mt. Denali in order to raise money for student activities, such as my Student Council. My bucket list would include climbing a mountain, but I'm afraid that my spinal osteoporosis has nixed that idea. Therefore, I shall both help John in his endeavor and live vicariously through him. Should you be a regular reader here, please check out this post for more information. I promise that more is coming.

http://climbingforsuccess.blogspot.com/2011/04/aint-no-mountain-high-enough.html