3.26.16
When I literally flunked out of Boston Latin School as a “sixer” meaning 7th grade—the first year in a 6-year program because I couldn’t understand or keep up with taking French, Latin, and many other academic subjects, I transferred back to my neighborhood junior high. It was the Patrick T. Campbell.
I took Spanish instead of French. Rather than all-boys Latin, I was in a co-ed junior high school only about 3-4 blocks away from home. The students were nothing like those at Latin.
Our English teacher whose name I can’t recall anymore was a white man in a sea of multi-cultural students. He was unable to control the class and I saw him try to teach and was constantly mumbling words under his breath. At the moment, I felt bad for him and was afraid that he would suffer a heart attack. Out of frustration, he would slam down his wooden pointer and give up teaching. The class would give a uproar of laughter. There were many times when his pointer would shatter in many pieces.
Recently our granddaughter Story in 2nd grade would come home frustrated over how her class would act and denied her of learning. She felt bad for her teacher and even comforted her. I’m glad to hear that Story’s mother is able to intervene by pointing this situation out to Story’s teachers. This is so encouraging from the time when I was growing up without the ability for parental intervention. See what a couple of generations in America can do.
I think about the disruptions that Jesus did at the temple when merchants and moneychangers turned a place of worship into a shopping mall. Disruptions are helpful to disturb the status quo so that a situation can be reviewed and improvements can happen. While we don’t condone disruptions in the classroom, we can also say that these unfortunate situations led to revealing who Story is becoming—a mature and compassionate 8 year old caregiver. This disruption led Lauren to gently intervene and hopefully for the welfare of the entire class.
I can’t remember one thing I learned from my 7th grade English teacher but in retrospect, what I have learned today as a 66 year-old grandfather is that our children and grandchildren are becoming better people.