Early June, 2007

I began this final week of instruction after Memorial Day with sore lower back and took Tuesday off to recover. All my students were remarkably well-behaved with Mrs. B., my good substitute, and I was proud of my kids. It was a remarkable semester, really. The students behavior was generally consistently tolerable and good-natured. I had great kids, and I look forward to teaching them again next year at Southern.

Of course, the day I returned, a fight broke out right around the corner. I just exited the bathroom, and knew I wasn't getting involved in that scrum. So I hobbled in pain against the current of children who wanted to glimpse the mayhem, toward my safe haven classroom, and let more other adults handle the melee. You can probably see the fight on youtube.

I might as well admit that once again this year I attempted to find another school to teach at, but I am totally satisfied that Southern will remain my place to ply my trade. Scores of great teachers leave Southern each year, leaving the academic curriculum in the hands of either totally inexperienced teachers, whose energy and idealism at being a teacher are assaulted by the reality of many Southern High classrooms, or long-term substitutes, which translates into chaos and shiftlessness in the students. This year I will say, our fresh teacher cadre is a strong one, very creative and effective educators, and I hope they stick around.

I was gratified by one student's comment, a senior, who I taught only one time in her first year at Southern. She said she was talking to her father about Southern's AP courses, and how too often there wasn't a qualified teacher in the course, and she had other legimitate complaints. She said her father then remarked something to the effect that "at least you had Mr. Kandah as a teacher." She admitted mentioning me to her parents with some regularity, especially in the 9th grade, when she took the legendary Reading and Writing for High School and College, a course everyone at my school dismissed as hogwash, but which I brought to a high-standard of excellence. Needless to say, this fine student remembered my class that well, and she and her parents hold me up as something positive among Southern's faculty.

So what's the point? We make an impact with whatever student body we work with. We may never know after they graduate what impact we've made, but it happens. It's admittedly more gratifying when we can see first hand the bright look in the child's eyes as they positively interact with you on campus and look upon you as a moral, intellectual force. Isn't this what we as teachers should strive towards, being that force of nature that leads willing souls to high plateaus of experience? And a force that finds ways to trick the unwilling into following you because you are convinced it's in their best interest to come along?

Each day I am gratified by how appreciative the students are of the opportunities afforded them at our school. Now, granted, too many of them fail to take full advantage of the possibilities, but when I interact with even the most incorrigible in the hallways, between classes when the students are in a mingle-mode, I see a spark of gentleness, and curiosity, of potential, really, in all their faces.

Thanks for reading this. I'll be back for more comments, especially on my goals for the summer to prepare for another year at Southern Durham High.