I turned 23 yesterday, and today I woke up with a headache — and a crazy, burning desire to get to work. My students and I had such a productive first week back that my sense of urgency has soared. I just want to plan the best lessons I possibly I can for the remaining months we have together.
My students wrote persuasive letters to President-Elect Obama this week. The assignment incorporated a bunch of state standards, such as using the Internet to conduct research, writing in business letter format, organizing evidence in support of a main idea, and using appropriate transitions in writing. Jaaam! The kids are really excited about the project because we’re really sending the letters to the White House. Even though they have been warned that we’ll probably only receive a response from an underling, if anything at all, they’re extraordinarily invested in the assignment and have been hard at work in the computer lab for the last few days. Many have requested extra work time before school, during lunch, and during other classes — and have used that time with laser focus. I couldn’t be prouder of their diligence.
I’m going to include letters here that two students wrote to Obama in support of better education in low-income areas. I’m also going to include the letter written by Keisha, the girl formerly known to readers as “Tough Girl,” as well as a perceptive letter on immigration policy.
I need to preface these letters by saying that, at the beginning of the school year, the first three students refused to do anything in my class. At all. They would come in, park themselves in the back of the classroom, and either put their heads down or disrupt class. They would refuse to read and would rarely complete even the most basic in-class assignments. Two of these students tested at a first or second grade reading level at the beginning of the school year. April, meanwhile, who tested almost on level in August and is one of my brightest students, began the year as perhaps my greatest challenge in terms of attitude and classroom management. She displayed no respect for me whatsoever, and I ended up sending her to the office several times in the first couple of months because I just couldn’t figure out what to do with her. At this point, however, all three of these students put forth their best efforts on a daily basis and even cajole other students to do the same. I know I said it a couple of paragraphs ago, but damn, I’m really proud of these kids.
The following are just a few examples of the effort my students have poured into these letters. (Note: I showed them how to search the Internet, but they found all of their statistics themselves.) Their work isn’t perfect, of course, but I’m getting chills just thinking about the progress they have made. Please click the link below to read the letters.
Ed’s Letter (check out the last paragraph — he must have found the TFA website)
Dear Mr. President:
Congratulations on your recent election as President of the United States! I was so glad to see that we have our first black man as a president. The world has waited such a long time for this day to happen. My friends and family cannot wait to see you in action these next four years.
See I am a high school student at ________ High in _________, Arkansas, which is a small town in the rural [Ed. Note: vocabulary suggested by Ms. ____] Mississippi Delta region. I am concerned about the school systems in the United States. It is very important that the kids get a good education and that no child is left behind. I think that some students are not as smart as the others. I found that students of the Delta are offering and Extremely Limited set of Experiences from their everyday surroundings. Than plus almost 90% of the delta’s low income schools are African American and that’s probably why students are not getting the right education.
Some of the kids are not even graduating at the right age because of the education level the school has us on. That’s why schools in other states are achieving at the right level. Did you know that Hispanic and African-American high school students are more likely to drop out of high school in every state and that’s not good? I was looking at the NAEP data and they said by the time the students reach the 12th grade they will be four years behind the other young people. I once was on a low level but now I have improved myself. Another thing is Children in low-income communities, however, often face challenges such as inadequate health care, nutrition, or housing, and lack of access to high-quality pre-school.
Another thing is seventeen-year-old African American and Latino students have skills in English, mathematics and science similar to those of 13-year-old white students. That isn’t good for those that are going to graduate and not even on the right level. So that’s why the schools need to improve in the education department. Than plus it shows on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that the reading scores for 17-year-olds students from 1975 through 1988. Than from 1990 and 1999 the gaps grew slightly in both reading and mathematics. After all that Hispanic and black young adults are only half as likely to earn a college degree as white students. The NAEP writing scores for eighth-grade African-Americans are equal to or higher than the writing scores of white students in just seven states.
In conclusion the teachers of American need to come here and teach as much as they can for us African American students so that when we reach the 12th grade we will be on the right level and not just be hanging on. So Barack Obama can be a better president. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely, yours truly,
Edward
April’s Letter
Dear Mr. Obama:
Congratulations on your presidential election and being the first African American president! It was such a big moment in history and now that you will be in office for the next four years I have a few concerns that I would like to share with you about the United States education.
I am a sophomore at _______ High in _______, Arkansas. It’s a small town in the Mississippi Delta, which is in the far south. I am writing you to share my concerns about the country’s education primarily in the delta regions. So if you could would you please read my letter and consider some of my concerns.
In most southern states, approximately half of the students drop out of high school. Forty-three percent of Mississippi Delta’s high school students left before graduating in 2005. Most of them entered the labor market, and one out of four could not find a job. Of the present population in the Mississippi Delta, 8,444 whites have never been to school, and 32,196 blacks have not. There are 40,274 functionally illiterate whites and 119,741 functionally illiterate blacks in the state right now. In Arkansas there is only a 58 percent graduation rate, the graduation rate ranges from 50-65 percent (Internet). In my school alone there are approximately only 40-50 percent of students who graduate and the rest drop out.
You stated plans to address the dropout crisis by “passing legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school – strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.” I also have concerns about the No Child Left Behind Act; I believe that schools should not just teach children to fill in bubbles on standardized tests but prepare them for real life. You stated that you planned to change this by improving the assessments used to keep track of the students learning, if they are prepared for college, and there school environment and improve student learning in organized and effective way.
I ask you as a citizen of the United States to please take everything that I have told you into consideration and please try to fix the breach in the educational system, meaning finding new ways to improve not only math and literacy but other subjects as well.
Thank you,
April
Keisha’s Letter
Dear Mr. President:
My name is Lakeisha ______ ________. I am from _______, Arkansas, and I am 18 years old. I was just writing you to tell you how little our town is. I would like for you to make a change there by pursuing policies [Ed. Note: vocabulary suggested by Ms. ____] that would help build stores in our town and others like it.
There are 526 people that are living in _______. In _______ the median income for a household in the city is $20,625, and the median income for family is $22,361. The town is 75% black and 26.24% white. Thirty-five percent of the population is below poverty line. Out of everyone live in _______ 51% more than half are under 18 live below the poverty line.
_______ is sometimes quiet when other people don’t bring drugs in our town. In _______ there are many people that are suffering because there are no stores there so they can work. For example, my cousin ______ has been living in _______ for 20 years, and she has not found a job yet. She would have to go 12 miles just to look for a job in _________. Unfortunately there are not many jobs in _______ either.
In summary, _______ is a very small town without stores to shop in. Because of that reason I would like for you to build stores in our town, because people really do need jobs and places to shop at so that they would not have to go out of town.
Sincerely,
Lakeisha
Pablo’s Letter (name changed due to sensitive subject matter)
Dear Mr. President:
Hello Congratulations on your recent election as President! I am so excited to see that a black person was actually elected to be the President. I never thought a black person was going to be President, but it finally happened. I am in tenth grade, and my friends and I cannot wait.
My name is Pablo. I am a student in ________, Arkansas. I’m writing you to talk to you about something that is really important to me: Immigration. Specifically, I would like you to try to let more people come to work without them worrying about being deported.
During the time of election there were more Hispanic people that wanted you for president over McCain and the others who were running for president. Because the Hispanic community has supported you I think that you should try and help them out as in helping them get papers so they can come to the United States legally. It would be a good thing if you could do that because in Mexico they don’t have very good jobs in some places, and they also don’t pay very well. That is why a lot of people come to the United States for a job. That is also why people that don’t have papers come to the United States illegally because they have no other choice. For some people they have good look and doesn’t get caught by the Border Patrol.
In addition, if you think about not helping the Hispanics out, think about who is going to do the jobs they do today. I think that is a reason why America needs immigrants, so they can do the jobs that Americans don’t want to do. For that reason I also think that is why you should try and help them out at least. They may not be very good jobs, but they are probably better then the jobs they have in Mexico. Also, if there are more people coming to the United States that means the population is getting larger, and perhaps that means the creation of more jobs in the United States.
I know how the people who are in Mexico feel because I am a Mexican, and I [know people] that have come illegally and some people that want to come but they can’t. Just put yourself in their place and think about it: If you were in Mexico and had a job over there, but it was the hardest job you had ever had, and you were just fifteen years old, wouldn’t you want to come to a better place? Like in Mexico I have a cousin and he is only sixteen years old and he has been working in the fields ever since he was thirteen years old. I was talking to him last year when I went to Mexico over my Christmas break. Me and him were talking and he was asking me how everything was over hear and he sounded like he really wanted to come to the USA to see how it is. Another thing that he was also telling me that once he turned eighteen he was going to try to come contracted he was also telling me that was the only way that he could that was legal and that whenever the work was over that he had to come back because they force you to come back even though you don’t want to. There are many young people that want to come to the United States but can’t come legally so their parents send them illegally.
In my opinion the only reason I think immigrants come to the United States is to live a better life. Immigrants work hard when they come to the United States because most of them have a family in Mexico so they have to send money for them. Or some people cross their whole family so they can live with them and not have to send money except to their parents probably. But the biggest reason of it all is that I think people just come to the United States for a job.
In addition, I just ask you to please think about helping out the Hispanic community because during your election they were supporting you. So this letter I just ask you to consider to help all of the immigrants that want to come to the United States but also qualify to come. I Thank you very much for at least considering.
Sincerely,
Pablo
I’m impressed! Keep up the good work!