Moving Beyond Tired By S.J. Childs

Struggling with Isolation This first year teacher is tired and exhausted from teaching five classes in four different subjects. She feels that there is much more that she could be doing on a Friday night than going to a “Rethinking Schools” meeting. She keeps thinking of the plate of spicy chili noodles and video she could be laying on her couch at home watching. However, she has always heard that these “Rethinking Schools” people were really hot! She wondered how coming to this scraggly group of inspired, committed teachers could do her any good?

Fighting the Isolation She attends her first meeting with Portland Area Rethinking Schools (PARS). This meeting focused on the effect of a property tax on education and how they could stop the budget-cutting madness. There was talk of publishing articles, signing petitions, lobbying legislators, parent meetings, and phone trees. She thought that these were great ideas, BUT she was too tired to do more than listen!

Still Fighting…. It was years later before she attended another meeting. She couldn’t figure out where all this energy and time from other people was coming from to participate in these meetings. She loved teaching and put all she could into her lessons, she felt there was no time left over for meetings and organizing. She finally realized that she needed to fight back and become one of those “hot” people because the fear of her classroom being reduced to a tedious world of rote memorization and multiple-choice testing made her sick to her stomach.

Finally! When listening to PARS member Jackie Ellenz say that “Meetings are out churches,” she began to realize that it is not just about the students. It is also about the community, hope, and inspiration. She finally realized that the members are constantly pushing the possibilities of change. They come back again and again because the meetings are a promise, a way to keep hope alive, a way to help teachers find each other. Through their connections and experiences, members know they can speak up and not be alone.

Reasons to stay active … Meetings give you a sense of connection and community. By listening to reflections of peers, it can allow you to know that you are in good company. Members can make you feel good about teaching and cheer you on. Members thoughts and actions keep you excited about your job. Meetings help create community by providing human contact that is vital to the profession.

Quote “What greater gift can we give to our students and our children than the inspiration that comes from seeing us struggling for social justice?”