6:34 p.m. Today's project was to meet my former colleague from Ina Arbuckle Elementary for lunch during her lunch break from jury duty. Cathe's jury is on a long-term trial, so she's had to arrange for a substitute 3-4 days a week for a couple of months now. On the plus side, whereas teachers get a 45 minute lunch, jurors get an hour and a half! So the timing was just right for us to get together for lunch and "chew the fat." I'm pretty close to downtown, so perfect all around.
Cathe and I had hit it off immediately in 2006 when I transferred to the school of my choice, Ina, the closest to my home, just across the bridge from Riverside off Mission Blvd. We had both lost a parent that year, and are just a few weeks apart in age. Along with Jodie, a single young teacher, the three of us formed a close-knit 6th grade team. The two of them brought me up to speed quickly, since I had been out of the classroom in administrative jobs the three years before. 6th grade is a tough group to teach in a low income school, with gangs operating in the surrounding apartment buildings--the older brothers of our students. WE had to be unified in discipline and mutual support!
Monday mornings, staff and students were treated to the weekend's grafitti; district crews were already cleaning it off the walls when we arrived. "WSR" (West Side Riva) was the tag we read most frequently. My first year at Ina, 2006-07, one student actually claimed a gang, threatened other students and Cathe. Thank the Lord, he was expelled. This young man, and other bad actors that have been expelled, whether for terroristic threats, drugs, or weapon possession, are all redeemable and could still turn their lives around completely, "for God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
That was my approach to young people during my teaching career, whether in Christian or public school. What is the greatest need any child has? To know they are loved. Jesus Christ is the "lover of our souls," and the source and foundation of all love in the universe! I have unabashedly shared the Lord, my testimony and our family's life with my public school students, including bringing my children to school to share their talents with my classes. Heather and Kriss shared flute, singing and drums at Pedley. Heidi, who is now a teacher in my beloved Jurupa, subbed at Ina and around the district. Students throughout my school and around the district love her.
The Lord showed me that because I'm a Christian, I am to testify as such, wherever I am. And who needs to hear about the love of Christ more than children from impoverished, unstable homes, often lacking adult support or supervision? I didn't offer altar calls, but actively encouraged believing students to invite others for special activities at their own churches. One boy who'd given me fits, came to school one day, pulled me aside, and asked if he could tell the class what had happended to him at a church retreat the previous weekend. Since we had a "personal experience" essay in the works, I told him to use the retreat as his topic, so he could put his thoughts in order and present it to the class. [I required all students to read their final drafts aloud for a portion of their grade]. The class was silent with awe as he told them, "It was like Jesus was standing right next to me!" He had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and was a changed young man!
The 6th grade social studies curriculum was another gift God gave to the children of California, because a very long section of their ancient history book was devoted to the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. A prior section on Egypt had wonderful chapters on the Exodus and ancient Israel, including the prophets, the kings, Babylonian captivity and modern Judaism. Passages from the Bible are included in that history book as factual historical documents! My students made reports on the 10 commandments, watched "The Prince of Egypt" and viewed portions of "The Gospel of John" DVD for pertinent historical perspective. I'm confident that my several years' classes of students know that the Bible is true, God is real, and Jesus loves them! What other hope do they have? Or any of us, for that matter?!
People ask me if I miss teaching, and it's a mixed bag for me. Cathe's recounting the acts of little hoodlums, expulsions and internet harassment now prevalent at the 6th grade level make me sigh with relief. But I miss my colleagues and the wonderful children who do achieve and go forward despite the muck surrounding them in the community. I even miss the characters I had to alternately scold and hug, even lay hands on and silently pray for because they had so little self-control. I miss using my Spanish with the parents, too!
As Cathe's and my talk became more personal, she said, "If what's going on with your husband were happening to mine, I'd quit in a heartbeat--no question whatsoever! You did the right thing." It's true, I know it. But loving confirmation from a friend is always welcome, and that's what I received today, along with an update on the zany goings-on in the world of elementary school.
I'm thankful today for the long jury duty that caused Cathe to demonstrate Proverbs 17:17 to me: "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
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