180 days...

For the past two evenings, I have steeled myself and watched this documentary, tissues at hand.

Silly, ridiculous fool that I am, I cried and cried as I watched the families and the school prepare for the prom.  As I mentioned in the news round up, I didn't enjoy the prom ... almost didn't go. However, I recognize the importance of the ritual for parents and for the students.  It was heartbreaking [and heart warming] to watch the entire school staff from principal to the janitor create a prom for the students because there was no budget for it.  Those folks worked an 18 hour day in order to

I know this is a cryptic post ... it is just real, raw, the way it is.

Anyone who thinks that teachers and principals don't care about their students need to watch this documentary.  You think you know what it looks like in public schools because you watch the news or the superhero and/or anti-superhero documentaries.  You think you have seen it all, heard it all and don't want to hear it again?  Well, you still need to watch it...

You will see 180 days of principals and teachers and parents and college counselors and truant officers and janitors giving all they got to give.  And students, being teenagers, facing some of the harshest conditions, doing their best with the emotional, physical and academic resources they have.

As the principal said, "we are a walking testament to what happens when you underserve a population..." In the face of the craziest circumstances, as an alternative high school, with the students that many other schools had turned out, given up on, these folks were sending students to college.  They were offering students a college prep curriculum despite the fact that many of the students could not read or multiply.  Rather than give up or turn them out, the staff worked with students on all fronts to get them to the finish line.

You can't get blood from a stone.  And you certainly can't get it in 180 days.  One ought to appreciate the hard work these folks put out ... not cut their budget, downsize their teaching staff, and fire their principal.