(3/3) “We take a lot of stuff for granted…”

Courtesy: phillystreetmag.blogspot.com

For those who have been following along, you’re aware that I’ve been reflecting on the work of a former student of mine, Tyjae. I had Tyjae as a 6^th grade student back at the beginning of the 2010s. That moment of pride aside, another rose in its place.

His autograph and goals back in September, '09

Over the course of two weekends in November, Tyjae and his team of family and friends set out to provide food and clothing band aids to our homeless neighbors in Kensington. Ignoring the chitter chatter against engaging in these types of efforts believing they “enable” the homeless or those struggling with addictions, Tyjae’s goal was to provide clothes and something to eat at those particular moments in time; not at some future point in a possible shelter with maybe some services.

It’s an understatement to note that our neighbors were very appreciative and expressed as much! As one man put it, “Just a blessing you know, thank you…because we’re struggling ourselves. Thank you and God bless you!”

The foci of this final reflection are just a few of those who assisted Tyjae in putting these events together. When asked how important it was for them to be out there, doing what they were doing, here’s how they responded:

Rahsheen

“I feel as though this is important. All my life I wanted to do something like this because I see that a lot of people that got a lot of money don’t do stuff like this. And I don’t have a lot of money myself but I just always wanted to give back. I would like to do it again anytime.”

John

“Very important…come out here just to show love, to give back to those less fortunate, you know. We have donations and we have other donations from families and friends and we just tryna give back just on the positive, not tryna get any recognition…really from the heart.”

Jordan

“It’s good because it’s not a lot of young people out here doin’ stuff like this because they afraid at a certain image, like to do positive things, it’s not bad to give back, it’s a good thing, you gone get blessings from it.”

Ant

“Yeah, it’s a lot going on, you just gotta help people out, not everybody got it, some people don’t eat every day, some people really got real struggles that people really don’t understand. It’s a lot of people like that. Seeing people come through, they need stuff so it’s like good, so I thank Ty all the time, like “Bro this really heavy!””

[My bad bro, forgot ya name, hmu]

“It’s important to do this for our community because it’s important to lift each other up as a people and like he said it’s not a lot of people that are fortunate to do that. We take a lot of stuff for granted, even waking up every day. So to be able to wake up every day, have clothes on our back, somewhere to sleep, and not everybody has the opportunity to be able to provide stuff like this to people that don’t. Feels great!”

Tara

“Being a person who organized this event, I appreciate being able to see the people I’m helping. It’s a rawness about it being under the subway, people walking past, seeing their story on their faces, them telling me their story. It just reminds me of how pertinent it is to give back!”

To read more about Tyjae and his work, hit him up.

Instagram - (see below)

Blogger - https://phillystreetmag.blogspot.com/

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Thank you to everyone who came out to support an help also thank you to anybody who donated anything 🙌🏾 we appreciate it. It’s was a great turn out for @phillystreetmagazine first day of our thanksgiving give back ‼️‼️ @psm.snipe put on a good event 🐐🐐🐐

A post shared by Creator @psm.snipe 🖊 (@phillystreetmagazine) on Nov 23, 2019 at 3:52pm PST

(2/3) "It hits the heart..."

Earlier this year the city and Penn released a study examining the process by which Philly closed the homeless encampments in Kensington along with the impact of the closures on those who were displaced and the surrounding communities where the encampments once were. According to the study, “57 percent [of the encampment residents] previously spent time in a homeless shelter; 40 percent of encampment residents surveyed were homeless for over one year, meeting the federal definition of chronic homelessness."

A little over a month ago, Philly Street Magazine, a group of 20-something-year-old entrepreneurs led by Tyjae Sullivan, a former student of mine, set out on a mission. Their goal? Play some role, great or small, in being a part of the solution. With several bags of donated clothes in tow and boxes on boxes of hot pizza along with hot coffee, and other drinks and snacks, twice they went out to feed and clothe their brothers and sisters from other mothers and misters.

When asked why doing this was so important to him, he responded...

“It’s something I always wanted to do when I was younger…and now that I have a business I’d like people to know I’m about my community.”

As important as it was for Tyjae to give back and to be a blessing to others, it also meant a lot to his co-organizers and most importantly, to those on the receiving end of the clothes and food. In this 2nd reflection on those two weekends in November,  I wanted to focus on the people served. Although the question was simple, the acts of kindness meant the world to them!

Me to them, “Why is this important?”

In their words…

“I mean it definitely is a little hard to afford stuff and it’s freezing out.”

“Very important, I didn’t have anything like last week and I came by here and I got boots, which I been tellin’ him I needed them and…clothes I got. I got a pair of jeans from here earlier and…gloves…it’s really important. It’s awesome.” Her opinion of the food? “Good, great! Thank you!”

“It definitely fills the need for warmer clothes, you know what I mean? I don’t really have pants. I was able to get some pants, some new shoes; my shoes were leaking. For her the boots, you know and for self-esteem to get some new clothes, we’re on the streets and to get something like that’s newer, nicer, it helps out, so it—thank you very much!”

“You see, when a person comes out and does something for the neighborhood like this, I think it’s important because it shows the love. It shows love for the fellow man and it shows respect too, because a lot of people feel like they don’t have respect. Sometimes you misunderstand what somebody’s tryna do, but when you find out what’s really going on, you appreciate it! I love you guys, man! Thank you for everything you doin’ and thank Philadelphia for all the good people in there!”

“It’s awesome!”

“Just a blessing you know, thank you…because we’re struggling ourselves. Thank you and God bless you!”

“It turns the tide because you have people that are lookin for positive things in the community and this is one of them. This shows that the youngsters don’t have to wrap up in negativity. This is a good thing!”

Photo courtesy of @phillystreetmagazine

In one of the more interesting interactions, there was one man who declined to take any clothes or food but came back to the site with clothes in his hand. I asked him the same question, why was this important?

Him, “It hits the heart. I grew up in this area. I been fortunate enough to get out. I ended up homeless where I was. So I know how it feels to be hungry, to be cold. I’m in a better situation now.

Me, “Can you tell us what you brought [back with you] today?”

Him, “Just whatever I had to access at the house A few jackets and a hoodie, some toothpaste, some soap, I’m ‘bout to go get some tampons and toilet paper.”

Allow me to insert, that one woman was just looking for a hoodie or jacket when he walked back up with one.

Me, “What motivated you to go back to the house and bring stuff back out here?”

Him, “Seeing you guys out here. Asking me if I was hungry when I walk by, First, I got offended because I thought maybe you thought I was homeless, but I talked myself out of it.”

Part 3 of this reflection will focus on Tyjae’s co-organizers and what these experiences meant to them.

Photo courtesy of @phillystreetmagazine

(1/3) Former Student Serves Up Clothes with a Side of Pizza

I get all the feelz when the updates and activities of current and former students are positive! Who wouldn’t? Since their days with me in 6^th grade (or 5^th or 3^rd, depending on the year) lots of them have graduated from high school or college. Some have started their own side businesses. Others are gainfully employed. Some are serving in the armed forces. Most seem to be doing rather well.

A fair share of them have kept in contact with me one way or another over the years and for that I’m overjoyed! One student, Tyjae, has been keeping in contact with me since he left my 6^th grade class in June of 2010. This past weekend, he, his family, and some of his homies hit the streets of Kensington to distribute clothes and food to that section of the city’s homeless population. I’m honored that he extended an invitation to me to be a part of these efforts.

 

We set up camp at Kensington and Tioga around 1:00 on Saturday November 23^rd. There, we laid out a few hundred new or gently used items of clothing, including shoes, jackets, pants, sweaters, socks, hats, gloves, blankets, and more. In addition to the clothes, Tyjae and company provided free pizza, coffee, soda, water, chips, and other snacks to those in need or those who just wanted a little snack. The energy with which the organizers went about helping others was amazing! There was no hesitation in their motivation to stop passersby and to ensure that they were warm and had something in their stomach. Not satisfied with remaining on location, a few of these 20-somethings took items of clothing, a couple of boxes of pizza and hit the streets, walking down Kensington Avenue helping out fellow Philadelphians along the way.

Tyjae started a group and business called Philly Street Magazine @phillystreetmagazine. They identify themselves as Philly’s “new magazine for urban clothing designers MUA’s, hairstylists, entrepreneurs, lash techs, models, and underground rappers.” He and his group were the organizers of these meritorious efforts. When asked why he decided to do this and where the idea came from, Tyjae reflects and notes “it’s something I always wanted to do when I was younger…and now that I have a business I’d like people to know I’m about my community.” When asked why Kensington, “…because I knew I’d get to help a lot of homeless people.” That he did, as a few dozen people stopped by to check out the donated clothing items and grab something to eat.

It's no secret that Kensington is known nationally for its homeless and opioid and heroin addiction problems. From the Washington Post to NBC News and NPR, Philly has been in the spotlight and may be the epicenter of such a crisis, especially as the city seeks to be among the first to open a safe injection site. The problems in Kensington weren't the main foci on Tyjae's mind. Getting neighbors something to eat for the afternoon and clothes for the winter was his primary focus!

The efforts were to continue on Sunday, the 24^th. The weather had other plans. Part 2 will now take place on November 30^th from 1pm-6pm.

I salute Tyjae, his family, his brothas, including Ant (also a former student) and sistas, and everyone else all about doing some good in the hood!

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Working with Adjudicated Youth part 1

This summer I had the opportunity and ultimately what I'm going to call a privilege to work with adjudicated youth, specifically "tween" and teen boys. As a summer English teacher for a School District/Department of Human Services/Non-Profit/Title 1/ / / / / / program, I was to teach English to youth roughly ages 13-17 who had been.....well.....adjudicated. Most any crime that an adult would commit, they allegedly committed.

Having discovered that there "may be some materials over there", I quickly realized that I would have free reign to design and implement my own unit/curriculum. Cool!! (Note: There were materials at the site, by the way.)

Title: African American History and Literature
This would be the focus of the teaching/learning experience this summer.

Because I found out about this teaching gig the day before I was to stand in front of students, I also realized that this would be a constant work in progress, a lot of thinking on my feet, constant---wait, how does Siri say it--"rerouting"?? Yes. A lot of that. Not a problem. I'm up to the challenge. Even if I start very traditional with worksheets, short reading passages, and discussions, all Afrocentric, this would be it for a day or so while I got a lay of the land, the conditions, the terrain and just how working in a detention-type facility works.

Uh oh!!
So, I know teaching and learning and consider myself a pretty good teacher who diligently works at being better, I was not prepared, however, for the mentality of some of the youth. Despite the fact that I've been a youth worker/teacher/mentor/program director, etc. since I was a youth, it was never in an environment like this.

I didn't even know enough to know that I wasn't aware of what of what I wasn't aware of. Ha!! Riddle me that!!

One example:
I wasn't prepared for their genuine beliefs that some of their wrongs (not crimes, but the in-class type) would somehow be my fault. Their "conversations" (more like a cuss the teacher out--literally and point accusatory fingers) revealed that they really believed their hurling various projectiles through the air (some directed at me) was really my fault when one of the counselors would call them on it. They really believed that signing aliases on official documents (which they had never done, but decided to do this on a particular day) and being called on it was really my fault.  I kid you not. Sounds ludicrous? Yes!

One session ended up being "group" (something like group therapy, rap session, talking, etc. for those unfamiliar with the term). I listened intently as they were given space to talk without fear of some punishment. What I heard, through all of the diatribes, was, "I really don't want to be here."

My 'listening tour' continued all summer and was weaved into the very fabric of the instruction. Whether they were conversing with me, each other, times when I wasn't teaching, with my partner teacher, with the counselors, at lunch, wherever, I listened. I wanted to learn as much as possible about them, their beliefs, and somehow use what I learned to better my approach as a teacher of adjudicated youth in a detention facility.

Why mention the "...of adjudicated youth in a detention facility" part? Because teaching and reaching these youth is a different experience. The overall culture, from what I gleaned as an outsider, seems to be naturally created when a group of students, most of whom allegedly/admittedly/supposedly committed serious crimes are put together in a space---that experience is different. Different from teaching and reaching youth in a typical classroom setting. More challenging? I wouldn't even draw that conclusion. Maybe I'll lay out the similarities and differences in part 2, 3, 4, or 5 (or later).

There are most posts that will follow.
Some will reflect on the positive teaching/learning experiences as we analyzed movies like The Butler, Amistad, The Blind Side, and Remember the Titans. 

Others will be things that I've heard them say or do that are really worth remembering.

One post will be dedicated to a former student (no face, no trace) of mine who surprised me and made me very proud one day!!

I took quite a bit of notes this summer. Some were my frustrations, but those won't be the focus of future posts. There were really positive experiences that came out of the negative circumstances that landed many of these young men to where we were and I hope to do well by them in writing about them. Again, no face, no trace. No names will be mentioned. I respect the privacy of these youth and their counselors.

The Johnson House

I sat and pondered about some of the "Black History" significant sites that I'd like to visit at some point, some  this summer and others throughout the school year to come. Some included places where tragedy struck including the Lorraine Hotel (now a museum) where Dr. King was killed and the16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, the site of the September, 1963 Sunday School bombing where four black girls were killed.

As I sat, thought, calculated, I decided that I would jump in my car and head about 20 minutes (on a good day) up the road to Germantown Avenue right here in Philly to the Johnson House, a well established historical site and former station on the Underground Railroad. I'm glad that I did.

I even lent my voice in knowledge of my ancestral heritage to the two ladies with whom I was touring; very nice ladies from Montgomery County.

It was a great learning experience and I'd love to revisit, learn more, and even take a few folks with me! (You ready 207?)

Check them out here -- http://www.johnsonhouse.org/

Order in the Court!

Because I don't want to end with a rant on the evils of the testing industry, the debauchery known as school reform, and the vices of some politicians along with their school reformy backers, I'll begin with those folks and say this: the following learning experience could NEVER be captured on a standardized paper and pencil bubble test! The following scenario involves THIRD GRADE students in a real PUBLIC SCHOOL in the GERMANTOWN section of Philadelphia! Furthermore, despite the scenario that follows, I'd probably be considered a "failing teacher" because I didn't create a lesson plan that called upon the almighty Danielson, nor did I carry lesson plans with me that included those insidious acronyms "SWBAT" and "IOT", nor did I have them read a "passage" about judges, the biography of the judge we were going to visit or the history of the structure of City Hall! With that...

A week ago, my students and I took a journey to Courtroom 534, City Hall, Philadelphia, PA. No, no one was in trouble! We've been studying the Constitution and particularly, the Bill of Rights. I thought it would be a nice capstone for our studies by touring a courtroom and conversing with a real judge! Nothing could have prepared me for the fantastic time we had there!

Her honor, Judge Shreeves-Johns called me into chambers and together, along with her Court Crier (I learned something new), fine-tuned what we thought would happen in the moments that would follow. She would pose different scenarios to the children that would test various amendments of the Bill of Rights. They, the students, would in-turn, reply with their opinion on the legality of said issues.

All rise!

Her honor, adorned in her black robe (kids 'shock' face---Mr. Flemming, you have a robe like that! You wore it in class! Me to them, "Shhh!! Court!") walks in to a nervous and eager group of third graders (and three equally as intrigued adults).

She, along with her staff involved each child in the trial process. Jury, sherriffs, court crier, prosecution or plaintiff, defense counsel and defendant.

She posed various legal scenarios and asked for those who represented the state and the defense to speak to the allegations and their legality as it pertains to the various amendments. Most of the children were sharp and where anyone may have been a bit nervous, she looked to the jury for anyone who may have had a legal opinion. She used the court crier (one of the kids) and "polled" the jury quite a few times. After each "case", roles were switched and another case was brought before the court.

Where she challenged them, they met the challenge each time! Even when a few were nervous and got tripped up, it was warming to see the rest of the class come to the rescue and "stick it" to the judge (in a way only 8 and 9 year old children can)!!

The eloquence with which a few of them spoke was astounding! Some legal issues involved more than one amendment, but that didn't unnerve the kids one bit! They made their case to the shock and dropped jaws of even her court staff!

In one case, the defense attorney was jacking up the case for her client and the client, who knew the law, replied loudly, "you're supposed to be HELPING me!!" Judge Shreeves-Johns was impressed and remarked that he could easily represent himself in the case.

In another case, the defense attorney was extremely nervous and didn't answer the judge's questions in a  way that would help her client. The client was "locked up" as a result, but in her wisdom, the judge opened up the possibility of an appeal to everyone, appointed one of the jurors to be the new counsel and had the lawyer become a sheriff (no shade to sheriffs at all, lol)

After some time, the children got a chance to ask her some questions as they related to the Bill of Rights and the law. I prepped the kids ahead of time for this possibility and had them write down questions on 3x5 cards and have them in their pocket, ready to pull out in a moment's notice if the opportunity presented itself!

Knowing 207, knowing my students, questions would NOT be an issue! (smile)

A couple of questions really stood out. One asked whether or not she, the judge, felt bad if she had to "lock up people". She paused only for a second and replied "no", because in her courtroom, if she must "lock people up", they did what they were accused of and need to learn that there are consequences for breaking the law.

Another question that had me grin from ear to ear with unfettered pride was, "So the 2nd amendment gives people the right to own guns, but does it give people a right to kill? I ask the question because I don't think it does!" (What the???) One edu-commentator/poet/inspirationalist wrote that we can tell a lot about whether a child is learning, not by the questions s/he answers, but the questions s/he asks!

After court, we got the chance to take pictures with Judge Shreeves-Johns and thanked her for allowing us into her space for a little more than an hour!

Her stenographer, real court crier and aids were all GREAT!!! The chaperones who accompanied me were both impressed as well! Words cannot explain my pride for my kids that day! They were sharp!!!

Even now, a week later, I'm still so very proud and impressed with my students! THIS is real and experiential learning, for which I am an advocate and of which I am a practitioner!

They learned a lot and based on our experience and some of the conversations I overheard, many wouldn't mind a career in law! Isn't that what this is all about? Inspiring a generation of children and youth? Real teaching and learning?

Go 'head 207!! Y'all did the thang!!!

York, PA poised to turn charter huh?

And the big story is...

So, just a couple of hours from Philly in York, PA, the York City School District's schools are poised to become PA's first all charter district, having just been taken over by the state...or wait, what are they calling it? "Receivership"??? Aside from the fact that the term sounds ominously like a term from Lois Lowry's The Giver, Pennsylvania hasn't been doing well with the whole, "we can run a district better" thing.

They've been "receivership"ping Philadelphia's public schools since 2001. It is important to note that under their omniscient (sike), all watchful (pshh), recievership eye, we've plunged further and further into debt, all the while experiencing a net-GROWTH in the size of our district by the acceptance of many charter schools!

Some nuts swear by charter schools and are headstrong in their belief that the management of real public schools by these quasi-public, pseudo-accountable entities and the dissolution of teachers' unions are the answers to what ails many students in public schools! Not so!

If teachers' unions are the roadblocks to education, then by default, our wealthier suburban counterparts and their students would be enduring similar struggles since they, too, have teachers' unions. But, I'm sure, *they* have access to functional libraries, a nurse, counselor, the arts, gym, and a myriad of extra curricular activities and tutoring services at their disposal! As they should, but so should we, but I digress...

If the choice advocates really believed in the idea of "choice" as they suppose, they'd be pushing for such free-market enterprise in areas beyond Philadelphia's city borders, and I don't mean in Chester, but rather Chichester. Not in Camden, but in Council Rock!

My point? Pick one! Any one! There are many!

It's easy to pick on teachers and an unrealistic measure of student achievement like a single (or even a few) test scores! That is easy to package, ship, sell, and unload on an unsuspecting and easily swayed general public.

The problems are much more complex than that! Issues of the limitation of resources and opportunities, issues of true poverty, issues of substance abuse, issues of 8-year old heads of households, issues of homelessness, domestic violence, sexual abuse and in some cases (unpopular though it may be to discuss) the poor choices of parents and guardians.

Converting a school or an entire system does NOTHING to ameliorate those problems! Converting a school or an entire system to a charter oversimplifies complex problems all the while vilifying most of the hardworking, dedicated, well-equipped, certified public school teachers who have dedicated their lives to the service of educating generations of students and their families!

If we should fix anything, it should be the narrow-minded, elitist, pompous, high-minded, racist way of thinking on the part of many in positions who not only make laws, but those who buy...ooops, I mean, "influence" laws!

Better prepared...

In Philadelphia, we are quite used to "wintry" winters. Living in a temperate zone, we are not strangers to blizzards, snow storms, and various weather extremes from heat to cold.

This latest snow storm is at least the 6th or 7th of the season for us here in Philly. Though we know how to prep roads and preempt school closings---oh wait---school closings?? I digress...

It does seem that we are better prepared this time. Philadelphia's public schools announced a closing hours before the first flakes fell. Something that we are not used to. During at least two of the storms this season schools were open with half empty buildings, forcing emergency closings and four and five hour commutes back home.

This time SEPTA, our mass transit agency, detoured routes ahead of the flakes to avoid going into typical problems areas and to get commuters used to the new temporary routes. This "just in"....all bus routes will be suspended beginning at 10am this morning because of deteriorating roads!

This time teachers prepared students for the possibility of a 5-day weekend with Presidents Day being this weekend. My team and countless other teachers sent home enough work to last the equivalent an entire school week. I'm sure parents will appreciate their children having enough to do and not having to deal with "Bored Child Syndrome"

This time even Atlanta learned from the previous storm that embarrassed the city and kept people on roads for an entire day. Those who chose not to spend the night on the interstate abandoned their cars to walk miles to homes or hotels and return to their cars later. Children spent the night at school under the care of the same teachers who care for them during the day and who also get harassed by politicians and cooperate America.

What a winter! I don't like to complain, because I am not a heat person by no stretch of the imagination! 90+ degrees? No thanks!

National Constitution Center visit

For a second day, I made my way to a museum, childless! When we take students on trips, the primary focus, especially today, is on their safety. If we as teachers are fortunate enough, we can get a chance to enjoy the class trips and learn a thing or two as well.

Today's visit took me to the National Constitution Center, where I was able to spend a couple of hours in a relatively quiet museum, listening and learning about the U.S. Constitution.

During two of the three years that I taught 6th grade Social Studies, each class session began with our quoting the preamble to the constitution. We've also taken two different groups of 6th graders to the
Constitution Center.

In preparing to teach 5th grade Social Studies, I wanted to learn a little more about our history as a nation. The museum totally dedicated to the U.S. Constitution is a great place to start!

http://constitutioncenter.org/

Insectarium visit

A visit to Philadelphia's Insectarium will enahnce any elementary life science unit!! I've known about it for years. When running summer camps for the YMCA years ago, I've sent groups there for field trips. But today is the first day, I actually took the time to visit.

I enjoyed the experience. A fine compilation of living and dead species of insects, I observed quite a bit.

To make the experience a meaningful one for my students and not just a quick run-through of "OMG it's ALIVE and moving," I would prepare a list of questions for them to answer as they tour the relatively small museum on Frankford Avenue.
There's  a gift shop and, ironically enough, an exterminating company on the same premises. How about that for an "LOL"!

Enjoy!

http://www.myinsectarium.com/index.php