One Student I Will Never Forget...

I actually do not remember his name, but I remember him. It was my first year teaching. I was in a small room, a space suitable for a guidance counselor's office. My self-contained class was all boys and one tough girl. This boy stood out. He was brilliant, but angry. He was the angriest child I had ever met at that point. I never got around to learning what made him that way, as he was soon removed and placed in a district 75 school, a more restrictive environment.
Stories,
I remember his thirst for books. I even lent him higher level books of my own. He presented and was seen by many as another angry, young, black male. But I saw more. The kind of anger he possessed was coming from some place deep. And he was a child. Sometimes you meet a kid, and you see something unsettling in their eyes. That is rare. Here was a kid fighting everybody at very chance because he did not know how to cope with his demons.

I had to let him go early that year. I didn't want him placed in a more restrictive environment, but it was my first year and I had yet to learn how to fight advocate. He was, simply put, too much of a problem for the school to deal with.  So that was it.

The most frustrating thing for a teacher is to see a child with masked potential that many will not take the effort to see. I can only continue to hope that he makes it in this world.

Love,
Miss M