Give Students A Chance by Getting to Know Them
This post is second in a series of one on one conversations with students in order to hear their stories. Who are our students? What does their education mean to them? What effect do teachers have on them?
Today’s interview is with Genesis, a student in Cynthia Castillo’s class at RISE Pilot school at Augustus Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles.
“I’m the one in charge a lot of the time,” Genesis tells me early on in our interview. We’ve pulled two chairs into the quiet, clean hallway at Augustus Hawkins outside her English class, and she’s telling me about her home life. Latina, with blond-highlighted hair, an easy smile and a diamond piercing that glitters above her upper lip, Genesis is confident and charismatic. She is president of her class, something that seems to come naturally to her because she runs her household at home as well. Her mother is debilitated by migraines and, according to Genesis, has to stay in bed much of the time. Her stepfather has two jobs, one as a baker and one as a chef at a supermarket, so is home only on Saturdays from 4 till 8.
That leaves Genesis to keep the family running smoothly. Every morning, she wakes up early to get her four sisters and her brother ready for school; in the afternoons and evenings, she supervises them, making sure they do their homework and eat dinner. Though these responsibilities might make many teenagers resentful, Genesis takes pride