Having the right friends

Mon, 4 May 2009 22:53:36 -0400

That’s my son, Tony, on the right. He is the mirror I look into daily. On the left is his friend, Laert, a naturalized American from Serbia, whom Tony holds in high regard. Laert is the kind of guy you want your kids to hang out with. He’s smart, polite to a fault, and always works hard. I’m so proud of my son for identifying Laert as a potential friend. They are in math and science classes together and in this photograph they are assembling a wind turbine for a green science project. They try to out-do each other, but in a healthy way, when they work on these projects. In fact, they each make sure that if the other one is doing more work, they take initiative to do more so the other one doesn’t feel resentful. It’s an amazing thing to watch these two in action. They’re very big thinkers. I don’t know Laert’s parents real well, but I do know English is their second language. My conversations with them are usually limited to a “Hello,” a friendly wave and a gracious smile. I think they must be as proud of their son as I am of mine and hope they feel the same way about their son’s choice of friends.

Harmon is an English teacher at Euclid High School in Euclid, OH.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Sun, 3 May 2009 20:34:01 -0400

Kristien Zenkov

As I’ve thought about my own schooling experience and listened to youth talk about theirs for years now, I’ve become increasingly aware of the fact that school represents both the tunnel and the light for so many of us. School is a tunnel because it’s a place where so many youth feel constricted, and it’s a tunnel because it leads so many young adults towards a path that they might not choose without the guidance of the caring adults who surround them. But seeing the light? This is harder to come by. So many students can’t appreciate how school might actually be leading them towards some light, towards some end that they can appreciate. I think I stopped blaming youth for this lack of vision some years ago; there just wasn’t a point to assigning such accountability. Rather, I hope I’ve figured out what my dad taught me years ago, without even trying: find a way to let school matter to students and they’ll create their own light.

Zenkov is on the Literacy Faculty at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.