meta-roj

save a child’s heart – providing the best care to some that have the least.

i really should do these more often.

this was just a little blip of local news, and really barely got my attention, but i should’ve paid more attention. now, i’m going to do more.

a couple weeks ago, two local high school students, katherine pecore and stephanie haaser, performed a “nonconformist act,” as part of an exploration of ralph waldo emerson and henry david thoreau in their english class.

they kissed. in public.

they got suspended. and, of course, the suspension is on their “permanent record” and will probably preclude their admission to certain academic groups and societies (one article mentions national honor society). anyway, they’re paying a price for this, and i want to take a small stand, go on my own sort of “permanent record” and celebrate them just a little.

you go girls.

last week this story was picked up by cnn, and it’s starting to get some coverage around the rest of the world. you can read more here (ap via abc), here (baltimore sun), here (washington blade), here (new york post), here (washington post editorial).

most of these stories have some emphasis on the fact that these are two, straight, female, good students. i don’t think any of that is really all that important. these are two students who really understood and embraced the idea of doing something, however small, as individuals. they are welcome to sit at my table any day.

peart

They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what’s best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

use the knowledge that they fear (2).

Rabindranath Tagore

My Country Awake

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where the knowledge is free, where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of the truth;
Where timeless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clean stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by these into ever widening thoughts and action;
Into that heaven of Freedom;
My father let my country awake.

opening today in new york, storycorps has their first booth in grand central.

a first step in building a turn-of-the-21st-century oral history of america.

personally, i hope the vision expands. the rest of the world has interesting stories too.

this week i spent just a bit less than 18 hours straight doing production work for the discovery channel young scientists challenge award ceremony.

this is apparently the 5th year for the event, which brought 40 talented young (middle-school-aged) scientists together and awards something like $25, 000 in scholarships.

these kinds of corporate events are usually pretty tedious – uninspiring and i’m not big on award ceremonies either. they’re annoying. and this one had its annoying moments (they’re not “all winners” if you give one of them a “first prize” – even kids this young can see through that kind of contrived crap and there was absolutely nothing in the ceremony about what these kids actually DID to get there)…. but….

seeing a group of 40 really young people celebrated for their brains was inspirational.

i want to take some space here to name names and give these kids a nod of encouragement.

Samantha Bates (13) – Do Mutations in the Gag Gene Impact the Ability of HIV-I to Kill T-Cells?
Peter Borden (13) – The Effect of Neem Oil on the Ochlerotatus taeniorhychus Mosquito: An Effective and Environmentally-sound Approach to Mosquito Control
Bogna Brzezinska (14) – Robocrops: Precision Agriculture
Anthony Burnetti (14) – Effects of Multi-tasking and Aging on Driving Ability: How Should Drivers Be Screened?
Rachel Clements (14) – The Effect of Bosque Fires on Saltcedar Growth
Leah Crowder (14) – The Effect of Bosque Fires on Saltcedar Growth
Ian Cummings (15) – Who Penned the Bard?
Erica David (13) – Get the Drift! Year Two: The Effect of Snow Fence Variables on Wind Pattern and Speed, and Snow Drift Geometry and Volume
David Edwards V (15) – Which Enzyme Works Best to Reduce Grease in a Grease Trap: Liquid or Solid?
Dana Feeny (12) – The Receding Night: The Effect of Artificial Light on the Migration Pattern of Daphnia
Bobby Fisher (10) – The Effect of Water Temperature on the Color of Fish
Sarah Gerin (14) – The Impact of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke on Orb Weaving Spiders
Jennifer Gutman (14) – A Study of Arsenic Levels in Plants in Contaminated Soil
Zachary Hopkins (14) – Nuts and the Dark Side of Oxygen
Sravya Keremane (13) – Cloning a Cold Tolerance Gene in Agrobacterium for Citrus Transformation
Lorren J. Kezmoh (13) – Frog Formation Station
Tyler Kirkland (14) – Which Enzyme Works Best to Reduce Grease in a Grease Trap: Liquid or Solid?
Michael Klein (13) – A Study of the Effects of Object Recognition on Vision Testing Results
Justin Koh (13) – Aspirin: How Much is Too Much? Creating an In-vitro Model to Determine Minimum Daily Aspirin Dosage (MDAD) for Anticoagulation Purposes
Luis Lafer-Sousa (14)- The Effect of Active Metals in Cosmetic Products on Protein Aggregation: Implications for Human Disease
Spencer Larson (12) – Stomata Count Differences of Selected Coniferous Trees
Ryan Lee (13) – How Does the Angle of Attack Affect Lift?
Jeffrey Luttrell (15) – Do Dogs Make a Difference?
Bryce Melton (14) – SPF: Some is Good, But More is Better
Austin Minor (12) – A Colorful Solution to Paint Recycling
Elizabeth Monier (15) – A Comparison of the Antimicrobial Capabilities of Raw Honey with Raw Honey Treated with Heat, Ethanol or Ultraviolet Radiation
Michael Montelongo (14) – Recycling Dryer Lint: Effects on Plant Growth and Soil
Elena Ovaitt (14) – Purification by Ozonation: The Effects of Ozonation on Ascorbic Acid and Bacteria Colonies in Unpasteurized Apple Cider
Scott Presbrey (14) – The Response of Gerontology and Non-Gerontology Populations to Caffeinated Coffee
John Reid (12) – The Effect of Biuret and Urea Fertilizer on Citrus Leaf Necrosis and Growth
Ethan Roth (11) – Up with Math: Direction Matters
Jacob Rucker (13) – Quantifying the Effect of Skyglow on the Visibility of Stars
Patrick Saris (14) – Positive Effects of Turbulence on Wind Turbines
Taylor Simpkins (13) – Industries’ Foul Little Secret: Pre-Production Plastics Found on Beaches Come Directly from Industrial Sources
Katharine Sloop (13) – A Honey of a Question: Fall Nectar Sources in East Tennessee
Daniel Steck (14) – Wind Power
Joseph Stunzi (13) – The Effects of Cell Phones on Pacemaker Patient’s Hearts
Aron Trevino (13) – Could Soap Companies’ Advertising Be Making You Sick? Year Two
Ryker Watts (14) – Nuts and the Dark Side of Oxygen
Bryan Yancey (15) – The Effectiveness of Caffeine as a Pesticide Against South Florida Snails, Bulimulus guadalupensis

do amazing things, all of you. i’m not picking winners. you all rock.

come home safe.

Be nice, Work hard

i’ve done a couple drafts of a short bio/essay on this extraordinary human being, and i just haven’t been satisfied with my own work. so, to get this started, i’ll let rafe speak for himself:

rafe esquith

If I want my children to work hard, I better be the hardest working person they’ve ever met. If I want the children to be nice, I better be the kindest human being they’ve ever met.

rafe esquith

America is supposed to be a land of equal opportunity, but it’s not. Just call me the Education Equalizer.

rafe esquith

The biggest disadvantage that these children face is that none of them speak English as their first language. When a 10-year-old, who doesn’t speak English as his first language, steps in front of you and does a scene from Shakespeare, there is nothing that they cannot accomplish.

rafe esquith

I started Hobart Shakespeareans because I fear something for these children, and it’s not gangs, it’s not drugs. What I fear is that they’re ordinary. I don’t want my students to be ordinary; I want them to be extraordinary because I know that they are.

rafe wakes up at 4:30, walks to the school and starts teaching at 6:30 in the morning. lessons don’t stop, not even for lunch, until 5pm, and after walking home for dinner, he’s back tutoring and raising money to support the class. shakespeare is mandatory. music is mandatory. hard work is mandatory. and the kids – 10-year-old kids – line up to get into his class.

and i do mean support the class. he and his wife basically live at poverty level. everything – donations, grants and salary – goes back into the classroom.

it doesn’t end with the weekend, either, on saturdays, he does college-prep work with older students, and brings them to universities as he travels.

many of the articles you’ll find linked below emphasize “scores” and “percentiles.” for me, this misses the point. it’s not about getting these kids to score well on a test or place well in a class, it’s about inspiration and motivation. it’s about changing lives.

so be inspired, be humbled, be motivated. i certainly am. rafe esquith has made a difference. he is extraordinary. after 17 years of teaching 5th and 6th grade students, his drive and motivation only increase.

unfortunately, with a book published, rafe and his work is lost on the internet in the crush of retailers and resellers and reviews trying to sell his wares. so, i’m throwing my googlejuice behind this man (we’ll see how that works). and, since i swam the mess to create this post, here are some (but certainly not all) things worth checking out.

Articles:
Rafe Esquith, UCLA Alumnus and Teacher
The Hobart Shakespeareans, The Bard of Los Angeles
From Stage to (Really) Big Screen
Unconventional Twists to Conventional Methods
Fifth-Grade Teacher Introduces Students to Travel and Shakespeare
Inner-City School Students Excel in Shakespeare
The Hobart Shakespeareans

Interviews:
WAMU, Diane Rehm (realaudio)
CBC, Bill Richardson (realaudio)

Books:
There Are No Shortcuts: Changing the World One Kid at a Time

Awards and Recognition:
Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Walt Disney American Teacher Award for National Teacher of the Year, 1992
Oprah Winfrey $100,000 Use Your Life Award
UCLA Professional Achievement Award, 2000
Weingart Foundation $50,000 grant.
Joseph Drown Foundation $10,000 grant.

say something nice

Rafe Esquith
Hobart Elementary
Hobart Shakespeareans
980 South Hobart Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
PH: 213-200-4700
e-mail address: willpower6@aol.com

one final thought, from me. make a difference:

rafe esquith

My former students literally write me letters every day saying I saved their lives.