College and Career Whatever Have You
A couple of years ago, I had a heavy-set, lighter-skinned student who spaced out for about half my class every day. He twiddled his pencil, shaved it down til the disposable paint cluttered the desk along with his extra-large binder. He did most of his multiplication on his head, which was unfortunate because I asked for it on looseleaf to turn in by the end of the period. He applied for one high school, four back-ups. He turned to me one day after school during one of my “You better be here so you can get your grades up” sessions and said, “Mr. Vilson, I want to fix cars.” His father used to roll to parent-teacher conferences with a phone as big as his face and a 4-wheeler as big as an NYC studio. I’d give him and his father warm and cold feedback. I’s still think he was smarter than the sub par quizzes and performance tasks that he handed in.
He got a letter sometime in spring that told him where he was going to high school. He looked up at me and said, “Oh my god, YES, I’m so happy!”
It was an odd thing to hear coming from his mouth because I still have a bit of conservatism in me. The idea of assuring that my students have the opportunity to go to a good high school and then to a good college lights a fire in my belly. I already had former students attend MIT, John Jay, and Syracuse University (wink, wink), but a silent and large part of me wanted students to College and Career Whatever Have You | The Jose Vilson: