At Risk: Stories of Hope

My son, Hector, was 16 when he started taking drawing more seriously.  He entered the Congressional Art Contest and became a semifinalist for Hawaii.  He represented Kauai.  He met Congresswoman, Mazie Hirono, our Congresswoman!  I love how art connects you with your world.  Hector drew Albert Einstein.

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I changed the way I measure my wealth.  I used to measure it by the amount of material things I owned like a built in pool out in the country and my farmhouse in Michigan.  I had arthritis and had plenty of insurance to obtain medicine whenever my ankle would become inflamed and prevent me from walking.

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We should be concerned about at risk children because without intervention, they grow up and engage in at risk behavior as adults in order to make a living because they do not have the educational level that allows them options in life. Their job flexibility is limited to their level of education. A drop out is an example of the ultimate failure of a society to properly rear its children.

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The most frequently asked question I remember hearing from teachers rather they were just beginning in the education field, or seasoned teachers is “How can we get different segments of the school’s population to get motivated to learn?”

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I had some excellent teachers at Adrian Madison. It was the only school I had ever attended from K-12. I loved Mrs. Rambo, my kindergarten teacher who turned me on to the biggest box of crayons I had ever seen. Poor boys in Sunnyside can’t afford the big 64 pack with a sharpener. But she had boxes of these for free! I just had to figure out how to impress upon her the fact that I needed what she had in her magical kingdom.

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I thank the Rare Foundation of Troy, Michigan and the folks who nominated me for this prestigious award. It made my teaching career a dream career. It propelled my students to continue with their education. I told my students that we in the Southwest part of Detroit were going to be in a documentary and that the only difference between Hollywood and ours is that we are real and we have no script. Read the rest of this entry »