What we know and what they don't know

Today was a little bit weird at school.

OK, I understand that lots of people think any day at a middle school is weird but that isn't always the case. We have normal days with normal work being done in regular classrooms. We have cafeteria noise and goofy kids singing to themselves while they go from class to class. Now that it is the lusty month of May we have budding romances and spring dances where the kids look fresh and clean and sparkly as they wear shirts and ties or hobble in high heels they cant walk in. They don't really dance but, they do enjoy jumping up and down and singing along.

What made today different is that I got to share history with some 8th graders. They are working on speeches for English, controversial topics that they have to choose a side on and then defend. Lots of research on lots of topics like gun control,pros and cons of medical marijuana, school uniforms, teaching bilingualism, to name a few. Study hall was full. Laptops were humming. Kids were taking notes and citing sources. As I wandered over to see what the kids on the couches were doing I got caught up in their conversation. This particular group are the "in crowd". They are charming and sly. Cool and oblivious. Middle schooler's through and though. One boy (one of the brightest in the school) told me he has decided to just ad lib his speech. That got my attention. I asked him what his topic was and he said, "the effects of violent video games on people". We see this topic a lot in 8th grade so I was not too surprised. What got me was that they started talking about something called "Coloombine School". That was the pronunciation. Most of these kids had no idea what happened at Columbine in 1999. I had to tell them. Remembering those days immediately after the event brought back many memories for me. To most of them it was a foreign topic, something that occurred when they were only 3 years old. How amazing to remember that these children were in pre-school 12 years ago, and not much older when the terrorists attacked our country. They have always known a war was going on.

It happens once or twice a year, this realization that I am dealing with very young people who sit in the same chairs and pick up the same books and talk to me the same way about the same things that the students did in 1999 and in 2001. The incoming 6th graders were born the year the students in Colorado were shooting their classmates. They were toddlers when the towers fell. Have the years since brought us hope for a better future? Are we getting better?

The new students who toured our building to get a feel for the middle school were doe eyed and little. The rest of us are here, every year, to teach and guide and maybe to show that this world is going to be OK. That we have to make it the kind of place we want to live in. I cant tell you how much that can weigh on you sometimes. Mostly we go on in a routine way and then there are days like today. Days where you connect a little.


On a happier note, the best part is this, I get to come back next year and do it all again. My job has been taken off the chopping block. A few weeks ago the eels were nipping at my toes. Safe is a nice word. Safe to have some job security (at least for now) and safe is what I know our kids today feel because the school I work in makes it so.

To my colleagues, I am so proud to work with you. To the students, I love knowing you from the doe eyed times to the too cool for school times! To the powers that be, I thank you for the reprieve.