I was hired on a school in the beginning of this school year. Not my dream job but in my dream environment. The school is made up of primarily Black students, from low economic status in Central Florida. I know it’s my purpose to work with this population and I was thrilled at the opportunity afforded to me.
Of course upon starting the students had to feel me out. I was tested day after day to see if I was really in it for them and to see if I was real or fake. I would like to believe I passed the test with flying colors. I was liked by many and disliked by a few.
As the months went on I noticed a student who was very quiet but a scary quiet. He was treated differently by many teachers and administrators alike. One of the school policies states that no electronic items will be brought to school and if seen we are supposed to confiscate it and suspend the perpetrator. I often walked into different classes where he was a student to see him listening to music on his MP3 player. After a thorough background check I found out that he was a member of the infamous Blood gang and also recently release from a juvenile offender program. He was sent to the program for hitting an Orange county employee (the employee still works at the school). The teachers were scared of him, so they allowed him to listen to his MP3 player as long as he did his work.
Fast forward to October of 2010, this student was sent to the in school suspension (I.S.S). While visiting the I.S.S. the student and I had an altercation. He was wearing his music again, I had asked him to take it off and hand it to me. He refused of course, so being the disciplinary person that I am; I decided to have a talk with him. I'm not the type that yells so I walked over to him and politely place my hand on his shoulder. That set him off, and he caused a huge seen, and actually threaten me by stating “You better asked this teacher about me” implying that he’s not scared to hit an administrator. I had the option of violating him because of his probation and also getting him suspended. I know that sending him to jail wasn't going to change him because I work in the jail as well. I decided to sleep on it and get back with him the next day.
The next day he and I had a conversation without other students present. This student was a completely different person; I found out that his mom just recently got out of prison, the rough area he lives in and more on his background. To make a long story short I never recovered from the incident in the ISS room, we spoke every day, an occasionally hello and good morning. Never anything more than that, I could tell that he respected me because I didn't back down from him. We had a mutual understanding of each other and after that he doesn't wear head phones in school.
Fast forward to last week, the student was arrested and booked at the Juvenile Detention Center where a good friend of mine works. The student asked my friend if he could tell me out of all the teachers, administrators and everyone else at the school hello and that he would like to work with me when he gets out. This to me was huge because this student knows my work ethic and he seen the passion I have for kids. I currently work with kids that have felonies and are considered the most “at-risk” population. This student has recently been transferred to the adult jail where I work and we talked today. It was real refreshing to see him seek me out and now I believe I can truly reach him. He was definitely a product of his environment.
