When I entered the public high school classroom in August 2005, I didn't know that a microcosm of the global world dwelled within its four walls. The student body profile has its own culture and strata of society. Present there are virtual replicas of-the mayor, judge and jury, managers, white-collar clerks, and blue-collar laborers. Present are the wealthy, middle class, and poor. There is an active membership of movers and shakers and a membership of those who believe that they are entitled. I teach several Godfathers-students approach them for favors-and celebrities that grace our halls with flash. As ever has been the case, I educate comedians and entertainers. I teach the politicians, clerics, healers, and victims. I teach to customs, norms and cultures from five continents-some of these students are quite new to our shores.
And I teach the displaced. Over the course of two days in 2005, I welcomed dozens of new students who just the week before lived, worked, laughed, dreamed, and played along the coast of Louisiana. Even among this small group, some are obvious survivors who intend to fit in; some are sad and quiet, showing the signs of despair. Some had a relatively normal middle class life just a week before, and now they cannot deny that they are homeless and must depend on the kindness of relatives and strangers. Some are angry and refuse to stand for the Pledge.
This microcosm of society, blossoming from such a diverse mass of individuals, cautiously allows me to enter; in turn, it cautiously assimilates into the society of academics-principals, teachers, rules, procedures, consequences, and oh yes, huge blocks of academics and assessment. Parents can hardly imagine the pace and breadth of every high school day.
Nothing happens without some friction. My students and I will meet somewhere in the middle and acquire a genuine respect for each other's society and culture. If we don't, everyone loses. If we do, everyone lives to recognize and respect the skill and talent of another generation, its future, and its will, tenacity, and vigilance to follow another plan for another era.
Judith Farrell lives in League City, teaches English at Clear Brook High, and writes for the Galveston Daily News as a book reviewer and community forum columnist. Her two novels Norwegian Wood and She are available through Xlibris Press.
