So this video popped up on my feed talking about "Mexican Schools"
And as I listened to the story I was reminded of my own High School growing up.
We had a Satellite school.
What is a "Satellite School" you ask.
A place where anyone with IEP is placed.
Independent Education Program for those that don't know.
"Oh why do we waste money on those?" a lot of people ask.
"If these people can't learn why bother teaching them."
Bruv.
IEP's aren't just for handicapped students.
I say handicapped instead of disabled in this situation because being poor or non white in the a 90's high school was a like a ridiculously large golf handicap.
Like being told to box with one arm tied behind your back.
IEP's are in their most celebrated forms are Gifted Programs.
So.
Understand that.
Because a Satellite school removed these students from the general school group.
Their grades and whether or not they graduated didn't effect the over all school stats for funding, recruiting, and just "generally keeping it Christian."
Oh, no, they got extra funding for students they put in this school but only adding their stats to the Schools stats if they "Performed" well enough.
And perform we had to.
Okay.
Let's operate under the assumption that they actually where upholding IEPs and set up this school for kids with disabilities and such.
"Oh, we don't want them hindering other students education."
Was the most often justification.
Man, it's a good thing Stephen Hawking didn't go to American public school.
If that was the case.
Why was it mostly filled with black, brown, and poor kids?
Why did the school suspend queer kids that were attacked instead of the kids that attacked them?
Those fuckwits just felt more emboldened and empowered to attack queer kids when they came back.
"Gay Panic" I think is the court defense for attacking a queer person that excuses the attackers.
Oh yeah.
No.
The kids that were put into the satellite school were there "To protect school safety."
When they weren't even the kids causing safety issues to begin with.
Hell most of them did everything they could to avoid problems because problems at school meant more problems at home.
Oh, and God forbid someone defended themselves when they were attacked.
So when I tell you that sitting at a family dinner and this Jack Ass says "I want my kids going to this school because it's the only school in town with standards.
I froze.
My eye twitched.
I unbent my fork.
Finished my food.
Left the table.
And haven't sat at a family dinner since.
I think my silence and an empty chair speaks more to how I feel than any yelling or screaming I could do.
If there was even a chair at the table for me to begin with.
Few weeks later.
Comment about Puerto Ricans.
Okay...Jack.
Change the subject.
Something fun, something light.
"Dude! They're green lighting Nuclear power on the moon to power a moon base!!"
"We've never been to the moon."
Me.
Being an excitable educator started breaking down how, why, and what missions that have happened since having gone to the moon.
"Not real, all theoretical. Never happened"
I snapped. "I'm done talking to you. Now stop standing the in the way and fucking move!"
Anyways....
"Jack, why do you want to live in Manhattan?"
So I can irritate Dr. Tyson with my questions and maybe get a job at the Museum.
Because it's a giant city that I want to study from top to bottom.
Because it's not here.
TBH.
Any major metropolis would work.
In fact the older the better.
Easier to compare and contrast the modern v.s. the old architectural designs.
Dude.
Having the days in Edenborough and London was mind blowing and gave perspective to so many things.
I was walking around like a slack jawed yokel the whole time.
"Jack, how did you get to Edenborough"
A group of people and I taught theater students how to run their own theater.
Fund their own programs.
They got invited to the Fringe Festival.
Wrote their own music.
Wrote and Produced their own show.
The other classes that were there did things like "The Crucible." "Peter and the star chasers" stuff like that.
All very well put together, all very talented.
All very safe, very inoffensive.
And understandably they saw what our class had done and lost their shit.
In a good way.
They had an extra ticket I guess.
Regardless.
They needed another Chaperone and I was requested.
The level of imposter syndrome I had during that trip was so real I can feel it now.
There were other people who had spent more time with the kids, knew them better, had better report with them.
Imagine it from the kids perspective though.
Or at least I try to.
"John Wick's our chaperone?!?!"
Studying and learning all of the streets and back alleys so I could get from point a to point b faster than a car or bus if I needed to.
Criss crossing the kids paths as they explored on their own making sure they were safe.
Carrying my phone in my hand so if they needed me they could call me or their parents could contact me if they couldn't get a hold of their kids for some reason.
Helping them deal with and work through their own fears and feelings of being an imposter.
Making sure all the little ducks were in the pond before dark.
Just doing my best to be a tree they could shelter under when they needed it.
Man.
Kids are the future.
It's just our job to make sure they have the tools they need to figure it out themselves.
Only award I've ever accepted was from those kids.
"Creating community through art"
If I remember correctly is what it says, buried in a box somewhere.
All I wanted to do was run away and hide standing on that stage.
I still don't think I deserve that hunk of acrylic.
It belongs to someone else.
It belongs to those kids.
