This week Oakland children returned to their public schools, ending their summer patchwork of fun and boredom. First-graders anxiously, cautiously and excitedly moved up to the big school, out of their kindergarten portables. On the first day parents lingered to ensure their kids didn't get missed from the count and to shoe-them-into their new world.
Our first-grader is in Ms Abbidon's class, in an "underpeforming" (code for low-income) elementary school in East Oakland. Jeremiah's dad was telling me that he, himself, was in Ms Abbidon's class 20-years ago. I first met Ms Abbidon on a field trip last year and liked her. She is very friendly but very firm. We figured that's how she ended up with a class of mostly boys. She wears bright clothes, has short-cropped hair and talks with her hands. Watching all the first graders sitting on the mat devotedly listening to her, I wondered where all these kids will be in 15-years. How many will be hairdressers or carpenters or doctors or in prison. There is something humbling and inspiring about small kids, sitting there all focused, that makes me think of the possibilities of humanity. As a blue-collar worker I am impressed by these teachers. I am stunned at the energy level of being with all these kids for a whole day! Everyday.
CJ, a kid on the block, over the summer had told Havana that Ms Abbidon was "bossy." I asked Havana what she thought of her teacher. I remember seeing her face drop. Yesterday she told me, "she's not bossy to me," clarifying, "she's not bossy at all." She told her mother that she "loves school." Talking to parents, all seem to be happy with the school and the teachers.
Ms Abbidon may retire this year. She told me she wants to "outlast Senator McCain" who may be the same age as her. She has weathered all the decades of political storms around education. The increasingly escalation of cuts. The endless claims that union teachers are dead-beat. The pressure to meet test scores. Hungry kids that can't concentrate. The tragedies and the triumphs.
Thank you Ms Abbidon.
1 comment:
This makes me think of my 1st grade teacher, who was also known to be pretty strict and who also taught in an urban public school...I'm not sure if we were underperforming or not. I loved 1st grade because of her. You hear a lot about getting rid of bad teachers when they talk about education reform in the news, but we should be hearing more about teachers like Ms. Abbidon.
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