I've wanted to, but I've put it off knowing that I would have to actually reflect and think and set goals....then the procrastination set in knowing I would have a lot to write about....it could take a while to get it all out!
Last week I had my students write mission statements...I told them that I was working on mine and that its important to know what you believe, who you want to become and how you will get there. I told them I was still working on mine but I know its something like this:
I believe that ACHS students are as capable as any high school student in Colorado. To live out this belief I will give them opportunities to share what they know, give them access to a rigorous curriculum and will give them access to technology.
They all began to write and wrote something about passing a class or graduating....I stopped them and told them that I believed that they all could go to college. (Of course there are legal and political debates about MY students going to college...but whatever.)
They looked at me like they had never heard that before....its sad...they haven't been "groomed" for college like students who attend more prominent or affluent high schools. Maybe its a little late! They're Juniors and Seniors. Its devastating to me that location can make such a big difference is someone's future. had these students been born or raised in another area they would be expected to go to college, not expected to enter a trade. I understand that not everyone is made to go to college some people are very well equipped to enter a trade....but why is this mostly determined by your zip code? My students are smart, hell they process their entire day in two languages...I barely get by in one!
The point is that no one expected them to go to college....some of them were never really expected to graduate from high school. I think that is what made the most difference for me (coming from this zip code): my parents made it very clear from elementary school that 1. I could do anything I wanted and 2. I was going to college.....
Its painful to look at them and see their potential, their hope, and yet understand where they'll end up....I am tired of ordering food from former students...
Maybe Hillary Clinton is right...it takes a Village....
if for every year of a child's life someone told them they were special and that they could go to college....what kind of difference would that make, despite zip code?
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