Going Anyway

Acumen

Wednesday, May 17

Laura Pinkle came in with her news crew during my first free hour right before lunch. She is petite blonde who is no taller than 5'2", but she's very confident. She was kinda intimidating at first, even though she is really laid back. I got up from my desk when they all came in, and I introduced myself to the crew as they came in.

They told me they would film the prelude after Laura was done interviewing me. For the opening scene of their news story, they wanted to have my students as the main focus, which was fine by me.

Laura and I both sat down at the desks for the interview.

I apologize in advance for the lexicon, which is way out of my league.

"Mr. Easton," Laura started out right away, "who was the person who really inspired you to become a teacher?"

"When I was in sixth grade, I had a teacher, Mr. Kraus, who told me I could go to college. He encouraged me everyday to follow my dreams, and he really became a mentor to me. He is an affable guy who always cared about his students."

"Over time, has your desire for teaching accrued into the desire to teach kids how to live or has that always been your goal?"

"I guess I've gained acumen as I've gotten older, realizing the classroom needs a lot of structure. I was going to boycott the system of structure completely when I first started teaching because I wanted to be the 'cool' teacher, but I realized I couldn't be too ambiguous. I guess my goal isn't to cajole students into going to college, but I want to make it clear to them that they are capable of it if they want it bad enough."

"You're moving to Iowa in a few weeks. Without your encouragement, will this school dissipate again?"

I sighed, trying to not think of myself as an "elite" teacher. At the end of the day, I have just been doing my job. "I am optimistic for the future, but there are a lot of misanthropes here because they see no point of getting an education, and without education, it's hard to get anything done here in America. I don't mean to come off as dogmatic, but students' fragrant lack of education shows immensely."

"How do you think the system needs to change here?"

"It needs to happen slowly because this school cannot afford someone having a stupid caprice when it comes to leadership. We need to think it through. We need to start by working on the odious students who are rampantly trying to drop out. We have to show them we are not here to debase or emaciate them. Pardon my candor tone, but if students aren't told they they can achieve, they won't. We can't have glib teachers. Students can tell if we genuinely care."

"When I spoke with your principal, he said you are the 'harbinger of the bright future' for this school, so why are you choosing to leave?"

That question stung. Hearing these nice things is humbling, but it makes leaving harder. I ran a hand down my face, forgetting that I was being interviewed. "I was offered a job up in Iowa, and I have family up there, too."

"Are you ready to move on?"

I stared at the wall, noticing the abut bricks on the wall of my classroom. I looked back at Laura. "Yes, but that doesn't make it easy."

"Could you consider yourself an epitome of this school?"

I swallowed. "Maybe to a degree. A lot of the teachers want to give the students here an opportunity at a better future, and I think our students are finally beginning to believe in themselves, which may make all the difference. It's not just me though. We do have other teachers here who care." This is true, but my coworkers don't do anything about our problems.

"Have students been positively affected by this school?"

"Yes." It was good for me to admit that.

After chatting for a bit more off camera, I gave her a tour of my classroom and the school.

When my students came in, Laura interviewed a few of them. I think the kids enjoyed having the crew in the classroom today. Later, she also interviewed Jeff.

I know I'm supposed to be proud and all, but I feel like I'm quitting a huge project, and it's not a good feeling.

The story will air tomorrow evening. I haven't decided if I will tell Ava about all this yet. She's probably going to find out one way or another.

Overall, today was a good day.