One of City Year's focuses is on behavior, and at Rosa Parks behavior problems definitely are not on short supply. We deal with them constantly. It's hard being talked back to, ignored, and having kids roll their eyes at you. But, today was a reminder that for most of these kids their biggest concerns aren't whether or not their going to be able to pull of an A in pre algebra ( like mine was), instead some of them have to worry about where they are going to live next month.
There is an eighth grade girl who I see daily and always greet when I see her. She always ignores me. She never answers me. This drives me crazy. But, today when I found out she was moving I could not say I was at all happy to hear the news. Instead it made me want to cry. Because her grandmother is loosing custody after being in the hospital for so long and her other relatives cannot have custody over her, tomorrow she's moving to another nearby town where she will be put into the foster care system. It was hard watching her and her friends cry today as they knew it would be her last day at Rosa Parks. Sometimes I forget that while not every child at this school as that much weight on their shoulders, many of them are dealing with pretty heavy stuff.
Today made me stop and think about how truly blessed I am to be so well cared for and loved by my family and friends. It's because of my strong support system that I yam who I yam. I hope that us being here for these kids makes some sort of impact on their lives. It's my prayer that these students will feel cared for and supported by us, and it's my even bigger prayer that those feelings of empowerment will continue to grow after we've gone.
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