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Friday, September 15, 2006
Larry is in Amherst, and He’s Fine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Back in May, I wrote about some Atlanta graduates going to “Little Ivy” New England colleges such as Amherst, Bowdoin and Middlebury. An exceptional guy and Middlebury alum named Graham Balch organized the program, and lots of people worked hard to make it happen for these students.
In my story, I quoted Conetrise Holt of Washington High, who is now at Middlebury, and Larry Thompson of South Atlanta High, now at Amherst.
I was happy to hear at a recent Atlanta school board meeting that all the students arrived safely. I wanted more details, so I cornered Jim Bostic, a state school board member. I heard he accompanied Larry and Larry’s mom to Amherst. Larry’s mom had never flown before. Bostic told me Larry is settling into the beautiful campus situated in the college town of the same name. (I went to neighboring UMass, so I’m very familiar.) Larry has tons of support, including Bostic, who went off to college at Clemson many years ago and remembers well the experience of feeling a bit out of one’s familiar element. In short, Larry is just fine. Amherst officials assured me in May that their school has a lot of experience working with students from public schools not known for sending their grads off to ivied campuses. Their graduation rate is something like 95 percent.
So why have I worried so much about Larry and the others? I guess it’s because I remember what it’s like to be an awkward freshman in an unfamiliar environment. It gets easier, but some students don’t stick around long enough to realize that.
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Not Another Inspirational Teacher Movie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m reluctant to post an endorsement of Half Nelson, a movie about a white social studies teacher in a Brooklyn middle school. It’s not a movie everybody would like, and not something anyone underage should go anywhere near.
But … I loved this movie! There are no inspirational-teacher-movie stereotypes. No grand speech. No game-winning free-throw. (The teacher also coaches basketball.) Just a teacher with a lot to offer his students, but ultimately too many of his own problems. (Okay, I’ll say it, since it’s not exactly a plot spoiler… he’s a drug addict.)
“Half Nelson” isn’t really about education, but there are some interesting school issues raised. The curriculum-shunning teacher is passionate and gifted at engaging his students in history, but he seems to go too far in exposing his ideology with his emphasis on dialectics. (See definition 3A.) Still, one could argue that it’s better to engage kids and risk exposing them to a biased view than to play it so neutral that the kids don’t care one way or the other.
I’d love to hear what others think of this movie, if you have a chance to catch it this weekend. (Just don’t ask me for a refund if you don’t like it… like I said, it’s not “Akeelah and the Bee”.)
