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Schools in
Session
By Yvonne Terry On August 28, 2006 most Maryland
School Districts opened their doors to students from
pre-kindergarten through grade 12. As an educator
serving students in a large urban district, I have come
to realize that the beginning of a new school year means
different things to different people. Educational
leaders, teachers, parents, and community leaders all
have their own views about the crisis in American
Education. This writer asks the question as Yolanda
Adams' song, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!
Educational leaders who work in
Baltimore City Public Schools started this school year
at a Leadership Conference at Morgan State University.
We were greeted with the expression, “Happy New Year.”
Many administrators were sitting there thinking about
inadequate budgets, teacher vacancies, unclean
buildings, and shortages of supplies and books. For many
of these administrators a new school year brings a
myriad of feelings. There is excitement and optimism
about another opportunity to help students excel, yet
there is concern and stress because resources are
limited and people outside of the field have no idea the
level of commitment it takes to serve in an urban
system.
As an educator with over 32 years of
service to the students in Baltimore schools, I still
have a deep commitment to teaching and learning. When I
reflect back on our African-American history and recall
how many of our forefathers had to steal away in the
night to learn how to read, I am compelled to fight and
do whatever I can to help each student reach his full
potential.
Most teachers that I have worked with
over my thirty-two years start each new school year with
great anticipation and excitement. This school year is
no different. Waverly Elementary Middle School has
eleven new teachers this school year. Several of our
former teachers received promotions or moved on to more
affluent school systems. The eleven new teachers are
anxious to start their careers. These young people, who
happen to be mainly Caucasians, chose this perfection.
They seem to feel they can make a difference.
In many schools in Baltimore,
teachers, including new teachers, work on Saturday and
Sunday to prepare classrooms and lessons for students. I
have found that the great majority of teachers are
dedicated and hardworking. As with any profession, there
are teachers who have buckled under the stress and high
demands of the job. Teaching is a caring and giving
profession that often gets a “bad rap” from the media
and public. Any adult who has met with any success has
to recognize the importance of this great profession.
I have found that most parents and
guardians want the best for their children. They
recognize the importance of a good education, especially
for African-American students. Some come with high hopes
for their students and the school, while others come
with personal baggage and distrust for the schools. Many
parents and guardians struggle with the day-to-day
issues of food, shelter, employment, and health care. If
parents are able to provide the basic necessities for
their children, it is doubtful that they will be able to
make their child’s education a priority. This is when
other members of the village should step in to serve as
mentors for children.
In the past, large numbers of
African-American parents who may or may not have
extended formal education themselves, viewed a good
education as a vehicle to equalize, to some the degree,
opportunities for their children. For example, my mother
and father stressed education in our home. I was
expected to get good grades and to study hard in school.
My mother was a high school graduate and as an avid
reader set an example for the love of reading.
My father with only a grade school
education instilled in his children a desire to be smart
and be the best at whatever you do. As a female child,
my father told me that the sky was the limit to what I
could achieve. I suspect that the advice I was given was
recited in many homes in the fifties and sixties.
I encourage all parents,
grandparents, and guardians to instill in our children a
love for learning. We are charged with the task of
working with educators and schools to ensure our
children receive the quality education that they are
entitled to as Americans.
Businesses, churches, and community
organizations should be accountable to Schools. Like it
or not, today’s children are our future. There are some
people who say that it’s throwing money away to put
funding into Baltimore City and other large urban
systems. There have been great battles waged over the
funding of our urban schools. Our government spends “BIG
DOLLARS” on war, football stadiums, and anything other
than our CHILDREN.
The unspoken truth is that many don’t
feel that children of color are worth the effort.
Although support from business, churches, and community
organizations needs to be much greater, there are
examples of these entities supporting schools and
students all around us. Several churches give school
supplies to students in local schools and participate in
mentoring programs at neighborhood schools.
The Abell Foundation and Harry and
Jeanette Weinberg Foundation support local schools
through grants and financial contributions. Waverly
Elementary Middle School is fortunate to have twenty
senior citizens to volunteer twenty hours a week in
elementary classrooms. These seniors assist teachers and
serve as surrogate grandmothers and grandfathers to the
students.
What about the children? Many
students start the school year with great anticipation
of making new friends and learning new things. Most seem
to like the social interaction and attention they
receive from teachers. I have found that if elementary
students feel that the teacher cares about them they
will put forth maximum effort. In some of our urban
schools family problems interfere with many students’
naturally inquisitive minds.
Many students are burdened with
issues that are mammoth, too much for their little minds
and bodies. Poverty is a monster that is ever present
and lurking in our schools to cause problems. Poverty
affects everyone in the family including the school
family. By the time Malik has reached middle school, he
is considered by some to be unreachable. Some say he
doesn’t want to learn and is a behavior problem. The
truth is that for Malik a new school year only brings
new failures. The feelings of doom that many of our
students face are a sad commentary on our society and
educational system. So many dedicated educators keep
plugging away day after day trying to make a difference
in the lives of our children.
Our federal government passed the NO
CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. This is act is supposed to ensure
that students are instructed by only highly qualified
teachers and that all students are performing on grade
level by 2014. Ambitious mandates without adequate
fiscal resources are no more than wishful thinking. We
can only hope that one day this nation of ours will
really do what’s best for all of America’s children by
putting adequate fiscal and human resources in all
schools. Schools in session again!
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Yvonne
Terry
is Assistant Principal at Waverly Elementary School,
Baltimore. posted 1 September 2006 |
