New York Times article -
(http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/opinion/sunday/advice-for-a-troubled-teen.html?hpw&rref=opinion&_r=0)
This article in today's paper, took me back to my first year as principal. I had four boys - two African-American, and two Latino - who were natural leaders. They ruled the playground. Unfortunately, they were not always leading in the right direction. In fact, most times they were spearheading the trouble.
Although these boys were only 5th and 6th graders, I knew they were already at a crossroad in their lives. I decided that we would take them on two field trips. First, to the local Juvenile Hall, then to Stanford University. I told them their choices would determine whether they would be headed to jail or to college. Interestingly enough, after years and lots of effort, we were never granted permission to visit Juvenile Hall because of privacy concerns. But we did visit Stanford. We went there because Ben was a student, and I wanted these boys to see someone who looked like them on this college campus.
We expanded the program to three carloads the next year, and then after that we decided to take a busload to experience college for a day.
As I said, we began with Stanford, with Ben as our tour guide, then we added UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Sac State (our local university). We took the trips in late Spring, allocating a day for each school.
These trips required dedicated chaperones. I was always blessed with a great staff who was willing to do whatever they could to help our students. Cathy took over the planning, and bought incredible organizational skills and a cohesiveness to these excursions. Her guidance and help were invaluable.
We went on these trips every year that I was principal.
One of the most memorable ones was a visit to UC Berkeley where my dear friend Ray was teaching. He invited our kids to sit in on one of his classes. They listened to the discussion for about a half hour, and then Ray invited our students to comment and/or ask questions. To my utter amazement, they had lots to contribute and they did great! I was so proud of them.
On another visit to Berkeley, there were about a half dozen protestors who were living in a grove of trees that was scheduled for demolition to expand the athletic center. Our kids were fascinated by their commitment to their cause, and by the buckets they used to send down their bodily fluids. Set up nearby, was a table with baked goods that these folks offered our students. We suspected they were made with illegal herbs and quickly moved our kids along. All I needed was for a student to eat a brownie laced with marijuana. Thankfully, we escaped incident, and left with just a quirky story to tell.
I'd like to say these college visits made an impact, but truth be told, I don't know.
So much of the fruit of what we do as educators is not reaped until years later, so I hold out hope that of the scores of kids who went on these special field trips, it helped someone.
There was no appreciable difference in the behavior of the first four boys, and at least two of them chose the wrong path. I'm glad it was a while before I got that news. It would probably have impacted our decision to continue to do this year after year.
Although I don't regret the time, energy, effort and money it took to do this, it saddens me when I think of the lost potential. How many kids would have had a greater chance if they had the support they needed? How many bright, talented kids, who, in spite of our best efforts, still fell by the wayside? Was there more we/I could have done?
As an educator, these are the questions that haunt me.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/opinion/sunday/advice-for-a-troubled-teen.html?hpw&rref=opinion&_r=0)
This article in today's paper, took me back to my first year as principal. I had four boys - two African-American, and two Latino - who were natural leaders. They ruled the playground. Unfortunately, they were not always leading in the right direction. In fact, most times they were spearheading the trouble.
Although these boys were only 5th and 6th graders, I knew they were already at a crossroad in their lives. I decided that we would take them on two field trips. First, to the local Juvenile Hall, then to Stanford University. I told them their choices would determine whether they would be headed to jail or to college. Interestingly enough, after years and lots of effort, we were never granted permission to visit Juvenile Hall because of privacy concerns. But we did visit Stanford. We went there because Ben was a student, and I wanted these boys to see someone who looked like them on this college campus.
We expanded the program to three carloads the next year, and then after that we decided to take a busload to experience college for a day.
As I said, we began with Stanford, with Ben as our tour guide, then we added UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Sac State (our local university). We took the trips in late Spring, allocating a day for each school.
These trips required dedicated chaperones. I was always blessed with a great staff who was willing to do whatever they could to help our students. Cathy took over the planning, and bought incredible organizational skills and a cohesiveness to these excursions. Her guidance and help were invaluable.
We went on these trips every year that I was principal.
One of the most memorable ones was a visit to UC Berkeley where my dear friend Ray was teaching. He invited our kids to sit in on one of his classes. They listened to the discussion for about a half hour, and then Ray invited our students to comment and/or ask questions. To my utter amazement, they had lots to contribute and they did great! I was so proud of them.
On another visit to Berkeley, there were about a half dozen protestors who were living in a grove of trees that was scheduled for demolition to expand the athletic center. Our kids were fascinated by their commitment to their cause, and by the buckets they used to send down their bodily fluids. Set up nearby, was a table with baked goods that these folks offered our students. We suspected they were made with illegal herbs and quickly moved our kids along. All I needed was for a student to eat a brownie laced with marijuana. Thankfully, we escaped incident, and left with just a quirky story to tell.
I'd like to say these college visits made an impact, but truth be told, I don't know.
So much of the fruit of what we do as educators is not reaped until years later, so I hold out hope that of the scores of kids who went on these special field trips, it helped someone.
There was no appreciable difference in the behavior of the first four boys, and at least two of them chose the wrong path. I'm glad it was a while before I got that news. It would probably have impacted our decision to continue to do this year after year.
Although I don't regret the time, energy, effort and money it took to do this, it saddens me when I think of the lost potential. How many kids would have had a greater chance if they had the support they needed? How many bright, talented kids, who, in spite of our best efforts, still fell by the wayside? Was there more we/I could have done?
As an educator, these are the questions that haunt me.
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