The Purest Thing

        Since my first week, I have found that I am most helpful as a tutor. Working one on one with students gives them the attention they need to do well in school and also allows them to share a piece of themselves with another individual. Like all schools do, YWLCS is going rough patch. Everytime students come back from a long break teachers have to retrace their steps in the classroom and find out what students remember, understand, and can work on by themselves. As an inclass and afterschool tutor, I help students understand concepts, theories, and convey their thoughts more clearly.
        One day while I was working with a student after school, a teacher stopped by to give me some advice. He said, "Don't get involved with frivolous things. Keep your focus and let your passion thrive. This is the purest thing. The relationship between a teacher and student is something magical where imagination, memory, and knowledge collide to build something greater".
     It's not just beautiful words, it's truth. Even as a fellow I can plainly see how easily misplaced priorities can tamper with the potential of a child. No matter what happens, students must remain the focus of the classroom. And they need more than just the support of their teachers. They need tutors, study groups, test prepartion, and skill building activities outside of the school. The responsibilty of a child's education is not solely in the hands of teachers; it belongs to all of us. And until we realize that we are accountable-not just the unions or the teachers or the school systems or whomever else we would tag as the scapegoat- then we will allow low quality education to be an acceptable societal norm. David Lange once said, "Today's Schools are not Tomorrows Schools. That's a fundamental misconception." Why does it have to be this way?
        Just think- what would happen if we all volunteered or gathered resources for schools- especially in urban areas?! We could transform drop out factories into inclusive learning environments where new knowledge is created on a regular basis and glass ceilings could be broken and deconstructed into crystal stairs for students to climb and rise to astronomical heights. We would be a part of something significant and magical. But hey, I'm just a kid. What do I know?