Here is one of the kids in my enrichment math class. She's nine years old, smart as they come. She has just figured out a new strategy in Hands On Algebra! "I get this! I get this" she says. All these nine kids need more than they can get in their regular classes, so they come to me once a week for an hour. I feel privileged to be there and trusted (this is a public school!) We meet in an empty room that seems to be a storage place for rogue tables and chairs. This is great, we all know this, and everyone hunkers down for the sheer pleasure of learning algebra. The hour passes like a whiz. These kids are brown and white and black, girls and boys, and they speak Spanish and English. What they have in common is a strong curiosity and the desire to learn.
Ninety six percent of the kids in this school are on free lunch. On weekends they do not have enough to eat.
And here am I preparing a holiday gift list for my very own fortunate family! Scratch that, I think. Who needs fancy gifts from Harry and David? Who needs redundant fleece jackets from LLBean? So, this year, I will spend my holiday money on a field trip for one of the classes at this school. Those field trips are furniture for the mind.
I had meant to write about my amazing vegetable garden and send photos of the huge broccoli and collards, the snow peas and carrots, the turnips and lettuce and even tomatoes. Just imagine it. And come next February when our school garden grant comes through, our school community will be in vegetable production mode as well, feeding some of our families.
In this community there are so many generous people. They care with their hearts and energy and pocketbooks. They humble me.
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