In the fall my church gathered to do a prayer walk through downtown Memphis. One of the reasons that I felt called to this church was because of activities like this. They do not just say they love Memphis and have a heart for the city, they live it out every day. We took a route where we passed many abandoned buildings, the library, some corporate offices, and walked along the riverside. We stopped at a park along the riverside and prayed for the homeless men and women that had taken refuge there.

Now, you should know that I often feel uncomfortable praying in front of people—it is something I am working on. But, as we entered the park the first thing I noticed was the name: “Confederate Park.” I was shocked that a park in the middle of the city, would bear such a hateful and violent name. The name of the park celebrated the very divisions that so many people are trying to work against every day in Memphis. So, I asked if I could pray at the park—and did so.

Now, that I am home for Easter weekend I have had time to do some research about something that has been in the back of my mind for a few weeks now. The Ku Klux Klan is planning “the largest rally in the history of Memphis,” this Saturday. Upon my research, I found out that the re-naming of three parks is what prompted them to hold the rally. One of these parks is Confederate Park.

A lot of my students have asked me about the event—for them this rally demonstrates something very different than a group of people upset about the re-naming of a few parks. This rally represents violence, segregation, hatred, and racism. I often tell people that I never realized how segregated my life was until I moved to Memphis, I had never seen racism so clearly until my students opened my eyes to it. A lot of people in Memphis are working hard to change these things, but this rally brings back to life all of these issues. I am proud of my city for organizing a Heart of Memphis rally—to show that the power of love in Memphis is stronger than the power of violence. But, like so many events—I am scared that not enough will be done quick enough.

Often events that cause heartbreak and challenge by bringing up deep-rooted issues in our world, create almost a “fad.” People speak out, they show their support, they are activists for a short time—and then they move on. I hope that this rally can provide more than that.

I recently watched this video, talking about race--our hesitations especially as a white person to approach the subject. This is something I have struggled with recently. About 98% of my students are black, they quickly informed me that I should stop using the phrase African American, “that is so white Ms. C.” I go to a multiethnic church. But who am I “doing life” with? The people that are in my closest circle, until very recently, have always looked like me. How can we talk about race, when we are not actively doing anything about it in our own lives.

I think these events happening over Easter weekend is especially powerful. The rallys will be happening in between Jesus Christ’s death and his resurrection. A time of waiting, a time of anticipation.

I would argue that we cannot afford to wait any longer; the anticipation of change is not enough. It is time that we start taking action to wrestle with these issues, even when it is challenging. How do we move towards ONE city, instead of a city with so many divisions, North Memphis, East Memphis, Midtown, Germantown, Downtown, Mud Island. Memphis is broken in a lot of ways, and a lot of people are fighting to bring life back to the city—but it will not truly heal until we do so as ONE people, ONE city. We cannot function as ONE city until we start to accept (not just tolerate) one another, and love one another. 

Let me tell you about a student of mine. He told me he didn’t want to go to college, he was the first student who made me tear up and question my purpose in the classroom, he has a smile that warms your heart and more attitude than my pinky finger. He told me he would never be on the “mastery board,” “I already failed Algebra II once, I am going to fail again.” The way he shrieks my name down the hallway used to give me shivers, but now it makes everything seem right.

Today while I was taking him home after he stayed late for tutoring I told him—I could write a book about you, and his response was, "as long as I get all the copy rights."

Last time I took this student home I told him, “you know you were the one student who was the biggest pain for me at the beginning of the year, I asked every single teacher what to do with you because you drove me crazy.” He sheepishly turned to me and said, “and now….,” with a grin. I said, “you still drive me crazy, but you make me proud.”

About two weeks ago he came prancing down the hallway holding an envelope.

Wait—lets backtrack. It is August, and I had all of my students take the math section of  the EOC. The purpose here was two-fold. I wanted them to see their growth, and I needed to know what they understood and where they struggled. When I say this student threw an all out riot about taking the ACT, that might be an understatement. He ended it by bluntly telling me he was not going to college so he did not need to take the test. I felt defeated, and in my first six weeks of teaching I could not fight him on it.

Okay, back to the envelope.

“Ms. Clayton….guess what I have.”

“You’re clear across the hallway, you think I can see that far?”

“A college acceptance letter!”

This would be the point in the story where I literally started screaming and jumping up and down in the middle of the hallway.

“Now, if I knew you were going to do that, I would never have told you.”

I gave him a huge hug, and told him just how proud I was of him. From refusing to take the ACT and telling me he would never pass. To staying after school for tutoring, making the “Mastery Board” more than once, AND getting accepted to college.

I made him pose with his letter while I snapped a quick picture, “Quick! Ms. Clayton! Before anyone sees!” He said urgently—he tried to hide it in his words, but it was easy to see in his wide-grin that he was proud of himself too.

That college ACCEPTANCE letter, and the others that have followed for him, is more than just an entry to college.

That word. Acceptance. That is big for this student, and a lot of my kids.

In this often tit-for-tat culture it is all about protecting your own, keeping your pride—but baby-college is bigger than that.

I can tell my kids every single day that I believe in them. I think this student needed someone to tell him that, and really believe it for him to start to believe in his own abilities. But, the fact that somebody who doesn’t even know them is ACCEPTING THEM they are WANTED, that is it.

For students who are constantly shut out, kicked out, pushed out. They change guardians, change schools, change friends. TO BE ACCEPTED, for who they are, who they have worked to become, that is GREAT.

Today, I got to meet his grandfather. On the drive over, he told me none of his siblings had gone to college, I thought how incredible that he has been able to find intrinsic motivation to create a life for himself. When he saw his grandfather in the driveway and he said, “do you want to meet him?” I jumped at the opportunity.

To shake this man’s hand, and tell him just exactly how wonderful his grandson is—and how much he has to be proud of, and then see a huge smile spread across his face—now that was awesome.

As a teacher it is my job to shape my students in a way that makes them, “college ready” when they leave my classroom.

There are a lot of muddy waters when you first start teaching, how do you discipline? How long should I make my assessments? When should I call a parent? How do I define my role in a student’s life? These are all things that require trial-and-error.  A lot of “rules” about teaching change depending on who the student is.

The one phrase that I have struggled with the most, since August of 2012 is “college ready.”

When I applied to Teach for America, I knew my job would be hard. I knew that my students would be behind, and I knew that I was going to have to work my tail off. I liked the challenge.

I really wanted to fight for education reform, and I thought the best way to learn what needs to be done was to get on your hands and knees in the classroom. I knew that education was not equal across the United States, I had experienced it to an extent first hand in elementary school. At first, college ready meant academically ready. It meant do you have the GPA? Do you have the ACT score?

After my time in the classroom I have realized that the definition of college ready has to be broadened. Right now, I have students who get the GPA, and with work they are going to get the ACT score necessary to gain admission and scholarships. What breaks my heart is that when they get to college, they may not be ready. This education is simply not preparing kids for the future beyond academics.

College ready needs to include note-taking skills. Most teachers that I know in this area, give their kids guided notes. The students follow along, fill in the blanks, and take abbreviated notes but the structure of the notes is pre-created by the teacher. In college not only are you solely responsible for taking notes, you do it outside of class—on your own. Class is used to process the information, not necessarily learn it.

College ready needs to include organization. No college professor is going to give you a list of supplies, and check your binder weekly. If you show up without a pencil and paper, your professor will not take the time to give you the supplies.  It is your job to be prepared.

College ready needs to include communication skills. How do I talk to an admission counselor? What is the proper attire to communicate my goals to those I am presenting myself to? How do I speak with a professor?

College ready needs to include conflict management skills. So many times, I see students acting out of rage, anger, or sadness. They have not seen proper conflict management modeled. In college, many of these acts will not be tolerated inside or outside the classroom. Students need to learn proper ways to talk about and resolve conflict.

Finally, the biggest gap I see is in the language about college. I have students who are college ready in the ways listed above. Yet, they are attempting to fill out their own FAFSA, and are completely lost. They don’t understand what the difference between a scholarship, grant, and loan are. The language that has been created around college in a way builds a wall between a low-income or first-generation student and their goals.

I do not believe schools are doing a very good job of creating students who are college ready in low-income areas. They push the test, as an Algebra II teacher our End-of-Course test is extremely important for my school. Funding and reputations depend on this test. But this focus on the test makes it difficult to focus on things that will truly change the life trajectory of students. I really fought giving my students guided notes for the first semester—and finally I gave in, it was just taking too much instructional time in the classroom. I remember telling an administrator at the school how upset I was about making the transition, and her response was “it’s about time.” We have counselors at the school and a graduation coach, but a lot of the complexities of college like navigating finances and FAFSA are left to the individual and their family—when these are the very things they need help with most.

I love my students, and I love watching them learn—but our education system needs to learn that this system is about more than test scores—its about character development and creating a bridge to students goals. When college is an option, and a student cannot navigate through the complex obstacles after admission, we are still failing America’s youth.

If you want to read more this article does an excellent job highlighting some of the same issues:  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/the-arcane-rules-that-keep-low-income-kids-out-of-college/273440/