Education Setbacks

The one problem with working at a poor, "inner-city," multicultural Catholic grade school is there are often so many problems and you can barely scratch the surface enough to help all the kids that need help. I'm sure there are problems and dysfunction in every school system -- public or private, grade school or high school, all-white and multi-cultural -- but it seems as if problems are heightened in a situation like I'm in at Cabrini. All the kids with attention disorders, learning disabilities, language barriers need help; there are families that struggle to get the kids there on time, aren't involved in their lives, use the kids for their own personal gain, or have inner family dysfunction that really affects the kids' behavior and ability to learn; not to mention the usual drama associated with working grades K-8 that try your patience and make you want to tear your hair out.

One of my families has been through a number of things this year. I have the girls in first and second grade, and at first it was just the parents' marriage problems. Then the parents got separated and are in the process of getting a divorce, so the girls and the father move in with this other family that has a bunch of kids and very little space for everyone to live peaceably and healthily. The girls by now have started to act out (the first grader) or be very quiet, withdrawn, and depressed (the second grader). Then there are issues with the father, who is completely irresponsible, takes them out of school for no reason, will not return paperwork that needs to be returned, fights the uphill battle of getting the girls' help (counselors and testing), etc. This past Monday, Maureen kicked the girls out of school because of something the father did, and they didn't come back all week. There isn't a single person who thinks they'll be back, but has the school gotten a phone call? Have we heard or seen anything from them? Nope. And I feel so badly for the girls. Even though life is a little bit calmer without the first grader around, it pains me to know that we can't watch out for them anymore. Maureen was going to call DFS, because (as the first grade teacher says), "They really need to be in foster care and have some stability and some adults who actually care for them in their lives." We'll see if anything happens in that arena. Until a new school calls looking for records, we can't assume he's made them change schools. For all we know, they may be staying at home or going to work with him instead of going to school. That second grader truly is the mom of the family, looking out for her younger siblings (I think she has 2-3 younger siblings). It's such a sad situation, but what can we do? Only so much, and then our hands are tied! It is very hard to watch, but all I find I am able to do is pray for them daily. I pray for those girls and pray that someday their situation improves.

That's just one story I could tell you about one family in this school. Everyone has their own stories, and man almighty the stuff you'd hear... after hearing the story of one of my kindergarteners, I don't think I could be surprised by anything. But I hang in there, give them love and discipline, because they need both, and hope I get a job someday where I can help kids like that in a non-educational setting. I pray that someday, I am able to watch kids like this grow up and know I made a positive difference in their lives. Because with these kids down here, I may never see them again, so who knows if they'll remember me 10-15 years down the line when they're getting ready to graduate high school or college. I truly am a teacher because I can say, "I hope I made a difference in the life of a child, and if not, I hope that I can someday."