Phenomenal Teachers

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I felt for a moment like I was sitting in the classroom with Hilary Swank. We got our teacher placements this week. (which teachers we'll be with for the year), and I must say I got the cream of the crop! For first- third period I'm in an English class with the best teacher ever. And for fourth period I head to the STARS class. STARS is similar to AVID. It's like a high school readiness class, where the teacher I'm with is helping them stay afloat in all their classes, while throwing in other activities. Today in the STARS class this truly STAR teacher did an activity similar to the one above, only it was with seventh graders. She started by asking simple questions like "Step to the line if you like pizza....if you have any pets...if you have siblings." and moved on to deeper questions " if you know anyone who is in jail....if you've ever tried drugs...drank...seen a gun...know anyone in a gang, been asked to join a gang." Granted it wasn't near as intense as the scene above, but it was powerful. And it was surprising how honest the kids were being. We don't deal with racism as huge as it is in Freedom Writers, but it was neat for them to see how much in common they all had. It also let me know how important it is that we are here supporting these kids, and doing everything we know how to keep them in school and on the road to success. Thanks to phenomenal teachers like the two I'll be working with these are not lofty goals!