A Drive Through Reality

Like most teachers in Alabama, I have spent the week preparing my classroom, organizing my books, and planning for my first week of school. I have stapled, moved, and stapled some more! I have laughed with co-workers and stood in front of the copier in dismay, because school starts Monday! Yikes! I have also sat in numerous faculty meetings and tried to remember everything that I am suppose to do every day to make sure that my students are safe and that my administrators don't lose their minds. This morning, my principal, Wendy Gibbs, called our faculty to our last meeting before the big day Monday. Because this is Mrs. Gibbs' first year as principal, she has worked really hard to make our faculty meetings productive and informative. We have participated in group discussions and worked together to come up with new goals for our school. Today, we all came to the library with our folders full of information, pens, and paper to take more notes. Our meeting began like any other....Mrs. Gibbs gave new instructions, but then changed her routine group activity into a field trip. She told us to leave all of our stuff in our seats and to load the school bus out front. After we were all seated and ready to go, Mrs. Gibbs informed us that as a faculty, we were going to ride one of the bus routes that picks up many of our students that live in absolute poverty.

Having grown up in rural Alabama, I have seen my fair share of poverty. While I did not grow up in these conditions, I was well aware that just miles from my home lived an entire community of people who slept in campers and used tarps to connect one home to the other. It is easy to drive by these homes and simply acknowledge that the people that live there are poor, but say to myself, "I can't do anything about it." It is easy to look to the other side of the road and continue on my way. Today, I was reminded that when Jesus said to, "take care of the least of these," He was talking to me and He was referring to the numerous children and adults that live in abject poverty in Etowah County, Alabama.

As we began our journey, Mrs. Gibbs told us that she decided to take us on this field trip to remind us of where many of our students start their day and where many of them sit in darkness and have no food. She wanted us to realize that when many of our students pass through the doors of Sardis High School they do not know if they will sleep in the same home or even if they will have something to eat for dinner. Mrs. Gibbs also wanted us to remember that when a student comes to our class, we might be the only glimmer of hope that they have for a different life, a better future. We might even be the only person that acknowledges who they are and that they are important to the world. I know that I am as guilty as the next teacher for disregarding a student that complains about being hungry or for ignoring a student that has worn the same clothes every day for a week. It is easy to get in my car and drive home to my safe, clean little world. Today's field trip opened my eyes and reminded me of what Atticus Finch told Scout once, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

I always tell my Education students at Jacksonville State University that when they have their own classrooms, they have to remember that as a teacher, he or she will never know what that student has battled that morning, so when they enter the classroom, make them feel welcomed, make them feel loved. It doesn't matter if I had a flat tire or a headache or forgot my lunch at home, I have to leave my problems at the door. It doesn't matter if my arthritis is killing me or if I didn't sleep well the night before, because my students need me to be consistent in my attitude and consistent in my actions. I must be the change that I want to see in the world, I must be that light in the dark. It is a hard burden to bare and I will fail every single day, but I promise, for the sake of my students, I will give it my best. Thank you, Wendy Gibbs, for being a leader that steps out on a limb, loads her faculty on a school bus, and opens our eyes to the world around us.