Toys, Toys, Toys

This is the joy of working with kids. This was my Tuesday in three snapshots:

• A group of 5th graders before class was huddled around a handheld version of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" For the record, they weren't doing too bad.
• In that same class before the period started, one of the 5th graders came up to me and proclaimed, "I need 5,000 yams and an AK-47!" I told him I doubted that he could get that many yams in the school, and I was even more sure he wouldn't get an AK-47 in. He assured me he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, since he just wanted to spray yam guts around. I've chosen to be impressed by his imagination...
• In the evening I worked with a 5th grader one-on-one at a mentoring program. The group activity at the end of the night was making cards/drawings/messages to send to Haiti earthquake victims. My student asked if we could skip it and go play basketball. I said no, but we could play after we were done. So, I was concerned he would blow off the activity, but he decided to get two sheets of paper and told me to copy what he did. We proceeded to fold the paper into boats, and then cut out masts and glue them to the center. On the mast, he wrote "we care," and then on the boat itself, he wrote his name and "we love." I told him he has a big heart. He asked if I was sure, and I said yes. He added that he hoped the victims could play with the boat and have some fun, at which point he pointed out that it can actually float in water.

Working with younger kids has reminded me how awesome toys are. I loved Legos growing up, and some of the kids I work with love them too. I like talking about toys with them when I get the chance, because it gives me a glimpse into their interests. They are always excited to talk about something they play with.

In my short time regularly working with 5th graders, I've realized that you are always on the brink of something memorable with them. It may be funny, it may be outrageous, or it may even be deep and meaningful. It is part of the adventure.

The Achievement Gap: The "Dirty Little Secret"

I will do my best to regularly post on Wednesdays. Consider this my first "regular" post.

As I mentioned the last time I wrote, I have my first big topic I want to discuss: the achievement gap, particularly in the Tacoma school district. Simply put, minorities don't do as well in school as whites. It's been a "dirty little secret" for some time, and it's long overdue to receive proper attention. It's now gaining some of its due recognition in Tacoma, as evidenced by this report.

One problem is that the achievement gap is easy to overlook, especially when nobody wants to look at it. The Tacoma school district is a poster child for how this happens. In 1961, they became the first school district to desegregate schools without a court order. Pressure from many groups kept the movement alive, and in 1979 the US Commission on Civil Rights deemed the city of Tacoma a "direct beneficiary" of the district's "successful desegregation effort."

In theory, desegregation should even the playing field. In reality, desegregation looks something like this in Tacoma public schools right now:

• As of 2007-2008, 49% of Tacoma school district students were white, and 51% minorities, making Tacoma a majority-minority district. Keep these percentages in mind for the following numbers.
• 37% of high school students in honors Language Arts courses were minorities in the 2007-2008 school year, while 57% of high school students in intervention (remedial) Language Arts courses were minorities
• 44% of high school students in honors Math courses were minorities in the 2007-2008 school year, while 55% of high school students in intervention courses were minorities. The splits were particularly bad for Hispanics (7% of honor students, 14% of intervention students, 13% of total population) and Blacks (15% of honor students, 29% of intervention students, 23% of total population)
• The splits were even more dramatic in middle school for the 2007-2008 school year. In Language Arts, 40% of honors students and 61% of intervention students were minorities. For math, minorities comprised 34% of honors students, and 61% of intervention students.

The Tacoma school district is the second largest in the state of Washington with, as of the 2007-2008 school year, 29,677 students enrolled. Considering the size of the district, the significant portion of the population comprised of minorities, and the wide splits in the numbers, it is unreasonable to conclude that the variation in the statistics is simply by chance.

The bottom line is that an honors classroom has significantly fewer minorities than an intervention one in Tacoma, and honors classes give students the best access to post-secondary education. In an economy where post-secondary degrees are demanded more and more, access to honors programs is critical.

On a societal level, the current gap in Tacoma likely guarantees that a significant portion of the city is destined to earn lower wages and be much more susceptible to poverty. Sean can speak more to this from an LE perspective (and I hope he does), but poverty and wage gaps simply aren't good. They create tension, unrest, and a climate that incubates criminal activity, even if you aren't interested in the injustices of such a system.

There will always be people that succeed in school more than others, and earn more money than others. That is not the issue. The achievement gap speaks about an opportunity that should be there for minorities but is not. There is no shortage of places to point fingers, either. I will start pointing mine in future posts.

YouTube link to relevant video...

Did You Know 2.0

This video presentation focuses on the future of our society. It asks the question is our educational system doing enough to prepare children for success in "exponential" times? If you have never watched this video before, I think you will enjoy it. During my introduction class into the Human Services major, my professor showed this video and it made an impact on me and how we can prepare both children and a population that struggles in life how to be successful. Enjoy.

Tim~ what are your thoughts?

Thoughts From an MLK Celebration

It didn't take long for me to find my first big topic for this blog.

As I mentioned in my first post, I work at an after-school program in Tacoma. It is the Hilltop Scholars program at Peace Community Center. According to Peace's numbers, about 60% of the students in the Hilltop Scholars program are African American, and approximately 75% of students are minorities.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. Though it is a big day for all of America, I hope you can see what I think it's a bit bigger deal for the students I work with.

Last night there was a big MLK day celebration at Peace, and it was really neat on many levels. It was particularly moving for me to watch all the student involvement, particularly knowing that they had spent a couple months worth of Friday afternoons preparing. The positive energy from the students was infectious.

However, there were also sobering moments in the celebration. In particular, the Peace education director spoke about the achievement gap in Tacoma public schools. It has always been a problem, and is finally getting some needed attention. Last September, this report was prepared for the superintendent.

I am yet to really go through the report. I will though, and post my thoughts on this blog in (hopefully) bite-size chunks. The students I work with largely are the statistics in the report, and I hope that aids me in connecting the picture the stats paint with the sketches of everyday life.

Oh, and though I will stay focused on Tacoma and my experiences, the achievement gap is a nation-wide problem. It's a big deal to me, and there are all sorts of reasons that it should be a big deal to all of us. The achievement gap is a major issue that should get more attention than it does. It will get its proper due on this blog.

Starts with Family....

In my experience with individuals I have arrested or have dealt with, I believe a common factor between most, not all, but the majority, is the family background and structure. I think Tim would agree that being successful in life (successful implying a sense of genuine happiness and satisfaction in life, not necessarily focused on material wealth) begins with family. Fortunatley, in my childhood, I experienced unconditional love, support, and positive interaction with my parents and brother. My family strugged significantly financially, meaning material wealth did not substitute for happiness. Rather, the interest my parents took in my life included recognizing my developmental needs including a healthy physical, emotional, and mental environment, spiritual guidance, support, emphasis on educational success, etc. I grew up with my biological parents (who are still currently married) and observed their positive work ethic, which I inherited.

While my experience in childhood was overal positive, I am aware that I do not share the same experiences many other individuals experienced in their childhood. Thus I a cannot judge any particular individual's predisposition or their circumstances, because I am not in their shoes. I can only draw from my own observations and experiences. This is especially true in regard to the population with whom LE (law enforcement) and the CJS (criminal justice system) interacts. Often these individuals experience, divorce, violence, mental, emotional, and/or physical/sexual abuse, alcholism and/or drug addictions, mental disorders, etc. These situations often inhibit an individual from functioning in a positive and progressive way and unfortunatley, it commonly transitions into the next generation.

While it may seem a child in these circumstances is automatically placed at a disadvantage, there is HOPE! A child can overcome this disadvantage with support and guidance. I'm going to leave this entry at that.....I'm excited to hear Tim's perspective with his background in education.......

Between a Cornerstone & Hard Times does not claim ownership over this cartoon drawing. It can be located at :  http://lucysnell.com/school%20cartoon.gif

The Other First Blog

I promise I'll have more original titles in the future.

As Sean mentioned, my name is Tim, and I am pursuing a career in education. I hope to be a secondary math teacher. As a college undergrad, I was thinking more of being a middle school teacher, but in the past few months have found myself more drawn to high school.

Right now, I have a couple part-time jobs that I enjoy tremendously. Four mornings a week I work in the Puyallup School District with fifth and sixth grade band students. Two to three afternoons a week I am a tutor at an after-school program in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma.

I anticipate that many of my posts will include stories from my jobs, so that is why I felt they were worth mentioning. Also, though I cannot provide exact statistics, the students I work with at the two jobs come from noticeably different demographics. That may or may not pop up in posts; we'll see. It is certainly something I enjoy about the two jobs.

I can't imagine going into criminal justice like Sean. It is a career I never really considered, while education has grown into a passion for me. At first blush, the two are very different.

However, in talking with Sean, I think there are connections to be made between the work we do. I hope those connections emerge as this blog takes shape, post by post.

First blog....

I am excited to start blogging. I've never created any type of content online before, but I've always been curious about the process. Tim suggested creating a blog together and possibly discussing our individual fields and how they relate to another. I am in law enforcement as a reserve officer and police dispatcher and Tim is an educator interested in working with lower-income communities (Tim-you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong).

"Between a Cornerstone & Hard Time" is a sort of play on words about how education (a society cornerstone) attempts to empower kids and keep them from trouble and how the criminal justice system attempts to do the same in a different setting (hard time). Both systems are not without their successes and flaws.

Tim and I welcome and encourage comments and other insight regarding education and/or the criminal justice system.

Welcome.