Leon Godchaux Goes to COLLEGE!!
It's been so long, I'm going to have to divide this post into chapters. It's a damn shame it's been that long since I wrote.... I sound like a broken record. Here goes...
MARCH
In March, I had a whirlwind weekend in Atlanta aka Hotlanta. My good friend Dre lives and teaches there, but I was going to visit Emory Law School with Megan. We crashed at Dre's house and managed to hit the mall, lots of free Emory food, watched UNC lose in the NCAA playoffs (to Dre's dismay) and just loved seeing NOLA in the rearview and getting away! I love roadtripping so much, but I also love the fact that I can always return home after the shenanigans are through.
A first year teacher at my school and I both enrolled in a program called First Book New Orleans, which gives every student in my school one free book per month. It is an amazing organization. It is called First Book because some students participating have never had a book to keep forever. They get to write their names in ink in the front and it is so meaningful to them. Discovering amazing free stuff is such a gold mine for a teacher!
The 6th grade hall remains crazy, but I tend to just rush my kids into Room 139 as fast as possible, often watching as they manuever and pivot through the madness. I have to say things like "We don't have to be like them" very often.
I love my neighborhood. Call it a hood, semi-ghetto or the euphemism "transitional" I love it in all forms. It's amazing how far a smile and nod can go in the Irish Channel. One day, I had to wait for a gaggle of children to each get their ice cream from the truck that plays the most obnoxious song and plays the same "Hello!" sound on repeat. I didn't mind- time moves slower in NOLA than the rest of the world. But, one of the children's fathers motioned that he'd like to buy me an ice cream for my trouble. Where else would that happen? People watch out for each other around here. I know the news doesn't make it sound that way, but come here and you'll understand. This city is troubled. Filled with problems? Yes. But New Orleans is lovable anyway.
APRIL
Although I find it super hard to keep my kids motivated during April, I managed to get spotty cooperation throughout the month. They got pretty stoked about a project I am calling the "World Summit." Basically, they each got assigned a country and they are in charge of learning everything possible about it. They are talking a lot of smack about who they are going to trade with, attack, etc. Hopefully they'll get the main point, which is how complicated it is to run the world. At least they now know how to make a timeline, a map, and conduct historical research.
The biggest event of April was, by far, the First Annual Godchaux College Tour. 4 chaperones, 31 students headed to New Orleans on April 18 to visit Xavier University (the oldest historically black Catholic university in the USA) and Tulane University. My principal's daughter is a sophomore at Xavier, and showed us all around. It's a small, very serious and academically focused schools. Because it is Catholic, they have curfews!! So intense, I think I am happy with UPS' lack of curfews. Some students thought that was a plus, though. Interesting.
We loaded a charter bus first thing in the morning, and our secretary's brother drove us into New Orleans on a mini-charter bus. It was an amazing trip from start to finish. Lots of noise on the bus- but the good, excited kind of noise. A first year at my school scored all kinds of free stuff from Tulane, her alma mater, so every student got a t-shirt, a lanyard, and all kinds of other knick-knacks. The day was jam-packed! They were in awe of the Xavier library (5 stories) and all the beautiful brick buildings and artwork everywhere. They were especially mesmerized by a super abstract math metal sculpture, which they all insisted taking pictures by. They are so random sometimes.
Tulane was out of control. After a tour of the amazing, state-of-the-art sports facilities ("I'm gonna play here someday"), the radio station ("Ms. Bliss was a DJ in college, y'all. I don't believe that"), and a dorm room ("It was huge!") we headed to the cafeteria for a donated all you can eat lunch. I don't think there has ever been so much fries, soda, pizza and ice cream consumed in one sitting at Bruff Cafeteria. My personal favorite was the cupcake bar, where you choose your own frosting and/or toppings. They could not believe how often they were allowed to go back (I caught one boy on his 6th round). They were basically in heaven. Another highlight was when the Deltas sorority step group performed for us. Many of our girls love stepping, and were super inspired to see these well educated, confident young black women rocking it at college. It was so great to see their brains spinning as they watched, and knowing how influential this trip was on all of the kids. I was a little bit concerned when we walked by an uber hippie guy with dreds rolling what looked like a joint (It was actually a hand rolled cigarette...I think). I pretty much just ignored my students when they started yelling " Dude, that man doing weed!" Knowing my kids, I could just imagine them going home and the one thing they would tell their parents is that they learned you can do drugs in public at college : ( I didn't get any parent phone calls as of yet....
Last stop was the French Quarter. Our students snapped into grumpy mode because we had a SUPER short stay there. Some kids got beignets, some went to the French Market to bargain for $5 "locs" (sunglasses). I wished we could have stayed longer, but alas... Some had never left LaPlace, let alone been to the French Quarter, so it was really neat to give them that opportunity.
So many people helped us put this together...my school secretary was a rockstar and got us a heavily discounted price from her brother's bus company. She also rolled up in her sleek black Nissan at the end of the trip to make sure it ended smoothly. Of course, several parents did not arrive on time. So we waited at Winn-Dixie, hiding from the pouring rain. Kadeem sat on the piles of bark mulch while Keeven and I talked college. He was so disappointed when he didn't accelerate this year, but he is a great kid so I try to give him pep talks every now and then. When he could tell I was overly concerned about him he said " I just don't see myself dropping out, Ms. Bliss." All I could think was thank God. This kid has a bright future. But the drop out rate for black males is out of control high, so you always worry despite what they say... Keeven and his best friend Terence have the funniest intellectual debates. I love being on cafeteria at lunch duty just so I can overhear their discussions. More like arguments. They debate over everything from the Beatles vs Elvis ("You never heard of the Beatles? Everybody's heard of the Beatles. I bet you never heard of Elvis neither!") to giant squids that are bigger than a whale ("Man, I seen it on Discovery Channel!" "No you ain't. You such a liar, boy!"). I call them the Great Debaters, and they are a constant source of entertainment for me.
It was so great to see students at their best. Looking their best, absorbing this amazing thing called college. I had prepped Theron and Darryl beforehand to be a little extra nice to Jimmy, who continues to be outcast by many at my school. Some outright make fun of him, others just ignore him. Tears almost came to my eyes when I heard Theron say "Jimmy, why you sitting by yourself man? You know you better sit with us, boy!" It was so cute. Theron is my most improved student from last year, by far.
Only 7.5 more days until summer....school. Why do I do this to myself?
xo
sarah
MARCH
In March, I had a whirlwind weekend in Atlanta aka Hotlanta. My good friend Dre lives and teaches there, but I was going to visit Emory Law School with Megan. We crashed at Dre's house and managed to hit the mall, lots of free Emory food, watched UNC lose in the NCAA playoffs (to Dre's dismay) and just loved seeing NOLA in the rearview and getting away! I love roadtripping so much, but I also love the fact that I can always return home after the shenanigans are through.
A first year teacher at my school and I both enrolled in a program called First Book New Orleans, which gives every student in my school one free book per month. It is an amazing organization. It is called First Book because some students participating have never had a book to keep forever. They get to write their names in ink in the front and it is so meaningful to them. Discovering amazing free stuff is such a gold mine for a teacher!
The 6th grade hall remains crazy, but I tend to just rush my kids into Room 139 as fast as possible, often watching as they manuever and pivot through the madness. I have to say things like "We don't have to be like them" very often.
I love my neighborhood. Call it a hood, semi-ghetto or the euphemism "transitional" I love it in all forms. It's amazing how far a smile and nod can go in the Irish Channel. One day, I had to wait for a gaggle of children to each get their ice cream from the truck that plays the most obnoxious song and plays the same "Hello!" sound on repeat. I didn't mind- time moves slower in NOLA than the rest of the world. But, one of the children's fathers motioned that he'd like to buy me an ice cream for my trouble. Where else would that happen? People watch out for each other around here. I know the news doesn't make it sound that way, but come here and you'll understand. This city is troubled. Filled with problems? Yes. But New Orleans is lovable anyway.
APRIL
Although I find it super hard to keep my kids motivated during April, I managed to get spotty cooperation throughout the month. They got pretty stoked about a project I am calling the "World Summit." Basically, they each got assigned a country and they are in charge of learning everything possible about it. They are talking a lot of smack about who they are going to trade with, attack, etc. Hopefully they'll get the main point, which is how complicated it is to run the world. At least they now know how to make a timeline, a map, and conduct historical research.
The biggest event of April was, by far, the First Annual Godchaux College Tour. 4 chaperones, 31 students headed to New Orleans on April 18 to visit Xavier University (the oldest historically black Catholic university in the USA) and Tulane University. My principal's daughter is a sophomore at Xavier, and showed us all around. It's a small, very serious and academically focused schools. Because it is Catholic, they have curfews!! So intense, I think I am happy with UPS' lack of curfews. Some students thought that was a plus, though. Interesting.
We loaded a charter bus first thing in the morning, and our secretary's brother drove us into New Orleans on a mini-charter bus. It was an amazing trip from start to finish. Lots of noise on the bus- but the good, excited kind of noise. A first year at my school scored all kinds of free stuff from Tulane, her alma mater, so every student got a t-shirt, a lanyard, and all kinds of other knick-knacks. The day was jam-packed! They were in awe of the Xavier library (5 stories) and all the beautiful brick buildings and artwork everywhere. They were especially mesmerized by a super abstract math metal sculpture, which they all insisted taking pictures by. They are so random sometimes.
Tulane was out of control. After a tour of the amazing, state-of-the-art sports facilities ("I'm gonna play here someday"), the radio station ("Ms. Bliss was a DJ in college, y'all. I don't believe that"), and a dorm room ("It was huge!") we headed to the cafeteria for a donated all you can eat lunch. I don't think there has ever been so much fries, soda, pizza and ice cream consumed in one sitting at Bruff Cafeteria. My personal favorite was the cupcake bar, where you choose your own frosting and/or toppings. They could not believe how often they were allowed to go back (I caught one boy on his 6th round). They were basically in heaven. Another highlight was when the Deltas sorority step group performed for us. Many of our girls love stepping, and were super inspired to see these well educated, confident young black women rocking it at college. It was so great to see their brains spinning as they watched, and knowing how influential this trip was on all of the kids. I was a little bit concerned when we walked by an uber hippie guy with dreds rolling what looked like a joint (It was actually a hand rolled cigarette...I think). I pretty much just ignored my students when they started yelling " Dude, that man doing weed!" Knowing my kids, I could just imagine them going home and the one thing they would tell their parents is that they learned you can do drugs in public at college : ( I didn't get any parent phone calls as of yet....
Last stop was the French Quarter. Our students snapped into grumpy mode because we had a SUPER short stay there. Some kids got beignets, some went to the French Market to bargain for $5 "locs" (sunglasses). I wished we could have stayed longer, but alas... Some had never left LaPlace, let alone been to the French Quarter, so it was really neat to give them that opportunity.
So many people helped us put this together...my school secretary was a rockstar and got us a heavily discounted price from her brother's bus company. She also rolled up in her sleek black Nissan at the end of the trip to make sure it ended smoothly. Of course, several parents did not arrive on time. So we waited at Winn-Dixie, hiding from the pouring rain. Kadeem sat on the piles of bark mulch while Keeven and I talked college. He was so disappointed when he didn't accelerate this year, but he is a great kid so I try to give him pep talks every now and then. When he could tell I was overly concerned about him he said " I just don't see myself dropping out, Ms. Bliss." All I could think was thank God. This kid has a bright future. But the drop out rate for black males is out of control high, so you always worry despite what they say... Keeven and his best friend Terence have the funniest intellectual debates. I love being on cafeteria at lunch duty just so I can overhear their discussions. More like arguments. They debate over everything from the Beatles vs Elvis ("You never heard of the Beatles? Everybody's heard of the Beatles. I bet you never heard of Elvis neither!") to giant squids that are bigger than a whale ("Man, I seen it on Discovery Channel!" "No you ain't. You such a liar, boy!"). I call them the Great Debaters, and they are a constant source of entertainment for me.
It was so great to see students at their best. Looking their best, absorbing this amazing thing called college. I had prepped Theron and Darryl beforehand to be a little extra nice to Jimmy, who continues to be outcast by many at my school. Some outright make fun of him, others just ignore him. Tears almost came to my eyes when I heard Theron say "Jimmy, why you sitting by yourself man? You know you better sit with us, boy!" It was so cute. Theron is my most improved student from last year, by far.
Only 7.5 more days until summer....school. Why do I do this to myself?
xo
sarah
posted by MissBliss at 7:23 PM
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