I'm not sure what it is we do over two weeks, but it definitely resonates with kids, as the afternoon ended up in speeches and many tears. The kids share the lack of support at their schools, the lousy instruction, and the uncaring adults at their locations. I hate to believe that is true, but I know enough about systems to guess that it is likely worse than they report. We gave them two weeks of reading one verse novel, The Sea of Lemon Trees, and several days of writing assignments and workshops. They got to talk, to laugh, to break bread together, to take risks. I guess that is somewhat emotional, after all.
We made it through all 4 weeks, 200+ kids, 17 teachers, & 140 hours of instruction with minimal incident. I hope to keep it that way, and am always knocking wood at the end of a summer. Yes, there are hiccups in the routine, but I imagine they could get much worse. I am thankful, too, to Dean Li in Dolan School of Business, as he's always gracious with the space...one shared with only a couple of faculty who come by in the summer....they could be counted on one hand.
Our collaborative art project this year was to create a mini-sea of lemon trees, where the kids wrote about their roots, stems, crown, and fruits as language learners. We allowed multilingual writing and asked difficult questions of the thinkers from time to time. I don't think we've had a wider spectrum of abilities, either, as there were a few with only weeks of English instruction and several who are on the brink of cracking the collegiate writing summit. The best point is, however, how they all feel safe. They come because they want to improve and they know there are many there to invest in them. I know I couldn't do half the things we have them doing if I had to perform in another language.
We are also amazed by how much Sea of Lemon Trees initiated tremendous instructional opportunities. We know it taught a piece of U.S. history that is not shared in schools, especially because it deals with the true diversity of our nation, but the intentionality of keeping non-White minds out of learning spaces. It is all part of our colonial heritage, and reckoning with the is...well...what the last decade has been all about. There's truth to history, and then there's the truth of history taught in schools. When the majority of a populations reaches a moment in history where they don't see their stories being told, well that launches the white-replacement hysteria as Kendi describes.
Anyways...it's Saturday. I don't have an alarm clock and I don't have the intensity of CWP summer programs any more. I seriously just want to walk and walk and walk and walk, only to be followed by sleep and mindlessness, only to do it all over again.
I am tired. I've been tired for some time now, but I really, really am over-tired. I'm self-aware enough to know that the responsibilities and pace of my work needs support. It's to the point of cruelty, how much I have to do without assistance, especially after 15+ years.
Ah, but I don't want to think about that until September. For August, I just want o hide.
