I Need You to Fight for My Students
I sat in the corner of the coffee shop swirling my raspberry mocha, waiting for it to cool. Looking up, I was greeted by a familiar face. A former student who held a piece of my heart.
He had graduated the year before and the story he told me shook loose the tears.
“Mrs. Iseminger. Graduation was the worst day of my life. My mom didn’t even stay long enough to hear my name called. I think she left in the H’s. I haven’t seen her since. I don’t even know where my parents are.”
He went on to talk about how he was getting by in the great big world with his great big high school diploma. And I wanted to heave a great big sob.
In recent months, two students have shown up at my classroom door with tears in their eyes, kicked out of their houses. Shuffling between homes of friends while just trying to graduate. No longer living with mothers-gone-wild-breaking-their-children. But what now, Mrs. Iseminger?
Students in our schools are broken. They’re broken pieces from broken backgrounds. Eyes hollow, wondering how to glue and stitch themselves back together realizing Elmer’s can’t fix their problems.
Ask teachers who love their students. Our hearts ache to touch the ripped places in their souls. To help them understand they’re a treasure. To show them they matter. But we don’t always have the tape and the glue and the patch-kits they need.
Sometimes they need you. We need you.
Our schools need you to fight for our students. Not with policies and procedures, rules and regulation. No. We need you to fight with love.
Because have you ever tried to learn with your stomach empty?
Did you ever try to comprehend grammar when all you think about is how you put your alcoholic mother to bed the night before?
What about understanding algebra when your dad invited you to get high with him just yesterday?
Can the history of the world be important to you when you’re wondering how to find a winter coat for your younger brother?
Is biology really as vital as working 30 hours a week to help your parents make rent?
Common Core. Parcc. NCLB. CLAST. Race to the Top. SAT. ACT. End of Course Exams. Teacher Evaluations. Standards. C2Ready?
Not a single one of these policies or tests or acronyms begin to touch the deepest needs of
