Jaguars Win!
By a little after 7 pm last night, the Broad Street Jaguars (the high school football team) defeated the Riverside Bulldogs in the first football game of the season for the North Bolivar School District. The game began at 5 instead of 7 because the lights on our football field are broken. It was a nice big flat field, though, with solid metal spectator stands on both sides. The concession stand sold grape- and orange-flavored sodas, slightly melted Snickers bars, nachos, and dill pickles. The crowd on our side was predominately African-American, dressed in school colors (blue and gold), and filling the stands. Students of all ages moved freely around the stands and the grassy area around them, playing, eating snacks, and watching the game. On the other side, the crowd was white and sparse (Riverside is an hour away). It was hot, but not unbearably so, and the mosquitos didn't come out in full force until the sun began to set.
My roommates and I were in attendance at the game, as were several of each of our students from the grades. There were some other teachers, other family members, and the two teachers from the Mississippi Teacher Corps (another TFA-like program) who both teach at the high school. I was tired after school and thought it might be a bit of a drag, but I was really happy that I went -- it was so much fun!
Three of my students attended. They were surprised and a mix of embarrassed and excited to see me outside of school. I was excited. M--, an adorable, chubby little girl who sometimes dozes in class shyly pointed me out to her sister. I walked past R-- (one of my sweetest, most invested little boys) on my way up the stands. I didn't see him (they look so different when they aren't in their school uniforms!) until he called out, "Mi' Hay'!" Later in the game, R-- found another little boy with the first name beginning with the letter R (I have 3 in my class, you've already heard quite a bit about the third). I spotted them heading up the stands as R1- pointed me out to R2- and R2- made his typical little adorable squinched up face at me. I was overcome with a love of my students. They can be so cute!
Michael and I agreed that we would rather live in Shelby than Clarksdale and really try to become part of the vibrant community there. I feel like Shelby is where I should be. It is where most of our students live, and while it would certainly restrict access to Walmart, restaurants, and our ability to act like normal party-hungry twenty-somethings, we both think it is where we belong while we are teaching here. Ashley and Patrick disagree and think that having a place away from the students is necessary to their continued happy existence. It's a valid point but I'm starting to think overrated.
Seeing my students outside of school didn't turn off my "teacher attitude," though. I got a chance to informally assess M-- and R1-. M-- knows the order of the months (although she thinks it's April) and can count to fifty-nine ("...57, 58, 59... 30! 31, 32..."). R1- doesn't know how to add but can do it when he demonstrates with his fingers. He can say what letter comes before and after other letters in the alphabet (indicating a good knowledge both of alphabetical order and of position words). Yay! R2- wouldn't sit still long enough or talk to me without scrunching up his face to get any scholastic information, but it was still fun to see him runing around, being a little kid, stealing sideways glances at me to see if I was watching.
My kids are so cute! If I can spare the time, I'm going to go to a church that I know some of them go to tomorrow. If I manage to find one with troublemakers in attendence, it will give me a whole new sort of leverage with my students. Not only am a more a part of their community, but I get to meet their families and their minister. Like whoa. The power of religion is pretty huge here, even if not so much with the first graders. Last time we went, a minister told Patrick and I that we "new teachers from the North," were an answer to one of her prayers. (With power comes responsibility.)
My roommates and I were in attendance at the game, as were several of each of our students from the grades. There were some other teachers, other family members, and the two teachers from the Mississippi Teacher Corps (another TFA-like program) who both teach at the high school. I was tired after school and thought it might be a bit of a drag, but I was really happy that I went -- it was so much fun!
Three of my students attended. They were surprised and a mix of embarrassed and excited to see me outside of school. I was excited. M--, an adorable, chubby little girl who sometimes dozes in class shyly pointed me out to her sister. I walked past R-- (one of my sweetest, most invested little boys) on my way up the stands. I didn't see him (they look so different when they aren't in their school uniforms!) until he called out, "Mi' Hay'!" Later in the game, R-- found another little boy with the first name beginning with the letter R (I have 3 in my class, you've already heard quite a bit about the third). I spotted them heading up the stands as R1- pointed me out to R2- and R2- made his typical little adorable squinched up face at me. I was overcome with a love of my students. They can be so cute!
Michael and I agreed that we would rather live in Shelby than Clarksdale and really try to become part of the vibrant community there. I feel like Shelby is where I should be. It is where most of our students live, and while it would certainly restrict access to Walmart, restaurants, and our ability to act like normal party-hungry twenty-somethings, we both think it is where we belong while we are teaching here. Ashley and Patrick disagree and think that having a place away from the students is necessary to their continued happy existence. It's a valid point but I'm starting to think overrated.
Seeing my students outside of school didn't turn off my "teacher attitude," though. I got a chance to informally assess M-- and R1-. M-- knows the order of the months (although she thinks it's April) and can count to fifty-nine ("...57, 58, 59... 30! 31, 32..."). R1- doesn't know how to add but can do it when he demonstrates with his fingers. He can say what letter comes before and after other letters in the alphabet (indicating a good knowledge both of alphabetical order and of position words). Yay! R2- wouldn't sit still long enough or talk to me without scrunching up his face to get any scholastic information, but it was still fun to see him runing around, being a little kid, stealing sideways glances at me to see if I was watching.
My kids are so cute! If I can spare the time, I'm going to go to a church that I know some of them go to tomorrow. If I manage to find one with troublemakers in attendence, it will give me a whole new sort of leverage with my students. Not only am a more a part of their community, but I get to meet their families and their minister. Like whoa. The power of religion is pretty huge here, even if not so much with the first graders. Last time we went, a minister told Patrick and I that we "new teachers from the North," were an answer to one of her prayers. (With power comes responsibility.)
posted by Jessica at 12:24 PM
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