Okay, so I knew it was coming, but it's still hard to swallow. Apparently the "powers that be", whoever that is, does not believe that teaching parenting, life skills, and English classes to poverty-level families is necessary. My job is in the "fluff" category. Maybe the people who make these decisions should come into my classroom for one day. They should see the differences we make in the lives of these families. If you're listening Mr. Schwarzenagger or President Obama, this is an open invitation. Come and look in the faces of the little children who will no longer have someone to love them, encourage them, and believe in them. To give them a box of crayons when they don't have any, buy them shoes when theirs are so small their toenails are bleeding, or to find them dental insurance when their teeth are rotting out of their heads. Please come and see the confidence that "my Mommy's" have on their faces when they help their children with their homework and go to parent conferences with me by their side encouraging them to fight for their children. Come and talk to the Mommys and children who could not speak one word of English at the beginning of the school year, and are now having conversations with me in English. I'll miss my families terribly. They have truly accepted me into their lives, I know all of their ups and their downs. I have been there for surgeries, deaths of family members, and new babies. I PRAY TO GOD that what I have given to them over the past several years will stick with them.
Okay, so I knew it was coming, but it's still hard to swallow. Apparently the "powers that be", whoever that is, does not believe that teaching parenting, life skills, and English classes to poverty-level families is necessary. My job is in the "fluff" category. Maybe the people who make these decisions should come into my classroom for one day. They should see the differences we make in the lives of these families. If you're listening Mr. Schwarzenagger or President Obama, this is an open invitation. Come and look in the faces of the little children who will no longer have someone to love them, encourage them, and believe in them. To give them a box of crayons when they don't have any, buy them shoes when theirs are so small their toenails are bleeding, or to find them dental insurance when their teeth are rotting out of their heads. Please come and see the confidence that "my Mommy's" have on their faces when they help their children with their homework and go to parent conferences with me by their side encouraging them to fight for their children. Come and talk to the Mommys and children who could not speak one word of English at the beginning of the school year, and are now having conversations with me in English. I'll miss my families terribly. They have truly accepted me into their lives, I know all of their ups and their downs. I have been there for surgeries, deaths of family members, and new babies. I PRAY TO GOD that what I have given to them over the past several years will stick with them. 
2 comments:
Your name came up today... "Miss Dana" Zale's teacher. Ahhh I miss the good ol days... I am so sad for you and your "fluff" job. The lives you have touched were not only those lives - but soooo many others like my family that just came to enjoy an hour with our preschoolers. You are what teaching is all about. We love you and will keep you in our prayers!
Sorry to hear that you are no longer an important part of the kids, and parents, lives. They are really missing out not having you on their staff!
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