During my first year teaching in Calumet City, I was part of a disturbing conversation at lunchtime. My coworkers were all sharing stories of former students who had died or gone to prison. I realized it was inevitible that I would someday have stories like this to share as well, but I hoped it wouldn't be for a long time.
That time finally came on Friday, when I found out that one of my very favorite students from last year died on Thursday.
At the beginning of the year, I thought, "There is no way I'm going to make it through a whole year with this kid." Edwin was defiant, disrespectful- a classroom management nightmare. But our team all shared the philosophy of not giving up on kids, and so we persisted with Edwin. Especially Lanette, the writing teacher. And all of a sudden, it was like someone flipped a switch in him and he became such a sweetheart. He was in my room every day before school, and I'd make sure he had everything he needed to get through the day. By the end of the year, he and his buddies were in my room in between classes, too, and I'd have to shoo them out so they wouldn't be late. Sometimes, he'd even pretend to hide in my room so he could stay there and not go to his next class. He loved stickers. Deep down, he really was a little boy.
But his home life was not easy. He had an older brother who was just rotten and tried to influence Edwin. We knew that Edwin was up to no good at home and had several meetings with his mom, a sweet lady who had immigrated here from El Salvador and worked two jobs (one of which was clearning houses) to support her boys. She didn't know what to do with the boys; they were out of control. We did the best we could at school, but that's one of the hardest parts of being a teacher- you only have control over a student for 7 hours a day. At one conference, I told Edwin I had so many good things to say about him. I started talking, and his brother started translating for his mom. Edwin had to stop me and said, "My brother is lying and making stuff up. No teacher has ever said good stuff about me before. Can you go get another translator, please?" I seriously wanted to punch his brother in the face.
After graduation, I became friends with many of my students on Facebook, including Edwin. His posts concerned me; he was obviously partying a lot and making bad choices. Last week, he and a friend apparently decided to ditch school and break into a public pool and drink. Edwin drowned. Here's the news story.
My heart is breaking for his family, especially his sweet mother, and his friends. And I am so angry at him for making a stupid choice.
One last memory to share of Edwin: he dated another girl on our team for a while (also one of my secret "favorites"). She was telling me how wonderful he was and said that he was her Edward (from Twilight). My coworkers and I laughed and laughed about this, but I thought it was adorable that she felt that way about him. He really was a sweet boy who just wasn't strong enough to fight off all the negative influences around him. He will be missed by many, many people.
That time finally came on Friday, when I found out that one of my very favorite students from last year died on Thursday.
At the beginning of the year, I thought, "There is no way I'm going to make it through a whole year with this kid." Edwin was defiant, disrespectful- a classroom management nightmare. But our team all shared the philosophy of not giving up on kids, and so we persisted with Edwin. Especially Lanette, the writing teacher. And all of a sudden, it was like someone flipped a switch in him and he became such a sweetheart. He was in my room every day before school, and I'd make sure he had everything he needed to get through the day. By the end of the year, he and his buddies were in my room in between classes, too, and I'd have to shoo them out so they wouldn't be late. Sometimes, he'd even pretend to hide in my room so he could stay there and not go to his next class. He loved stickers. Deep down, he really was a little boy.
But his home life was not easy. He had an older brother who was just rotten and tried to influence Edwin. We knew that Edwin was up to no good at home and had several meetings with his mom, a sweet lady who had immigrated here from El Salvador and worked two jobs (one of which was clearning houses) to support her boys. She didn't know what to do with the boys; they were out of control. We did the best we could at school, but that's one of the hardest parts of being a teacher- you only have control over a student for 7 hours a day. At one conference, I told Edwin I had so many good things to say about him. I started talking, and his brother started translating for his mom. Edwin had to stop me and said, "My brother is lying and making stuff up. No teacher has ever said good stuff about me before. Can you go get another translator, please?" I seriously wanted to punch his brother in the face.
After graduation, I became friends with many of my students on Facebook, including Edwin. His posts concerned me; he was obviously partying a lot and making bad choices. Last week, he and a friend apparently decided to ditch school and break into a public pool and drink. Edwin drowned. Here's the news story.
My heart is breaking for his family, especially his sweet mother, and his friends. And I am so angry at him for making a stupid choice.
One last memory to share of Edwin: he dated another girl on our team for a while (also one of my secret "favorites"). She was telling me how wonderful he was and said that he was her Edward (from Twilight). My coworkers and I laughed and laughed about this, but I thought it was adorable that she felt that way about him. He really was a sweet boy who just wasn't strong enough to fight off all the negative influences around him. He will be missed by many, many people.
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