Stay right here in the light...

I have had another blog, on another site, for a while now but I am feeling like perhaps it's time to move on. Something about turning 24 is changing me. Or is it me changing and being 24 is just part of the process? All I know is somehow I feel like I went to bed a girl and woke up a woman. It wasn't a gradual thing, slowly finding more and more of myself leaning towards maturity. It was sudden. One minute I was sleeping all day and putting off writing papers, and the next I was getting up way before sunrise and found myself responsible for the education of 80 high school juniors.

That said, blogging at blogger (redundant, I am sorry) seems more mature somehow. Perhaps I am silly, but so many things have changed in the last year. One year ago I was student teaching and feeling slightly restless. I had lived in eastern Washington (the state; it should go without saying, but sadly it doesn't) my entire life and suddenly I had the itch to see a little more of the world, or at least the nation. Two month trips to China, three weeks in Honduras, etc, just weren't cutting it anymore. Then I heard of Tea*ch for Am*erica (hereon referred to as TF*A)- a program working with the nation's most impoverished children in the worst schools. The heart of the program is to bring an end to educational inequity, to eradicate the education gap.

My heart quickened within me upon my first visit to the website and the rest is history. The next thing I knew I was boarding a plane at the beginning of June, from Spokane to Raleigh. After a quick "This is what T*FA looks like in E*NC [East*ern No*rth Carol*ina]" week, I spent almost 6 weeks in Houston in teacher boot camp teaching 6th grade social studies. See, to be in T*FA you don't have to be trained for teaching, though I was. The goal is to take the nation's best and brightest college grads and get them to commit at least two years to teaching a subject they are highly qualified in. Upwards of 12% of the graduating classes from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and the like apply. Had I known that these were the "competition", and that only 2,200 of over 17,000 would get in I might have been deterred. But I didn't know this- I only knew that when I started reading about the mission to see that "One day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education" it was me.

My degree from Whitworth College enables me to teach secondary social studies (aka 5-12 grade history/sociology/economics/psychology/anthropology/civics) just about anywhere that will take me, but what TF*A gave me was the opportunity to go beyond my comfort zone into a place that really needs quality teachers. So now I teach US history three times a day, 90 minutes each, to majority Black (68 of 79) students, with most of them in various depths of poverty. They are all eleventh graders but read on an average of about a sixth or seventh grade level. Most cannot easily subtract from 100 (something I learned quickly when we graded papers in class.) They know even less about history. However, they are extremely opinionated, albeit largely uninformed, on issues dealing with government. Most seriously think that there are still thousands of people in the superdome and on rooftops with no aid from anyone, particularly FEMA and what have you. Though, to be honest, most may not know what FEMA is.

This, then, is why I am here. The fact is, I love them. Had you asked me at ten if I would be in love at 24 I would have given you an emphatic yes (I've always been romantic... and optimistic!). I just expected it to be with one man and not 80 "po' kids" (as they say... must get it all into ebonics with the slightest southern edge!) in rural North Ca*rolina. "We po', Ms. TK [or T-kizzle, depending on the kid], we po'." There's still no man on the horizon, but I truly am content.

Being that I am a serious and devoted Christian (a better way to say that is that I have a deep and growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ) this is an incredible way to do ministry. In the classroom I cannot teach God's truth by specific reference, but my patience, respect, demeanor, and outlook speak volumes to them. They don't know how to handle a well-adjusted (aka popular and well-liked- not a loner) young teacher who doesn't drink or cuss. Imagine if they knew that I have never even had a boyfriend (by choice... a story for another time!), let alone am a virgin. Anyway, there is nothing I would rather do than work with and serve youth so I am one blessed girl.

So... that's my first entry. One last little sidenote- hereinthelight comes from a song called Stay by Jeremy Camp. Amazing song, and I highly recommend it. Most all of my entries will start with song lyrics, so settle into that ;) Also get used to the fact that I LOVE SPORTS so there will be much talk about such things as Gonzaga (GO ZAGS!!), the Seahawks, the Patriots, and come April- or before- the M's (Mariners) and Red Sox. I am a girl torn between allegiance to Seattle and Boston. I grew up in WA, so Seattle makes sense, but I have never been to New England. Can't explain that one. But I am rather interested in moving to New England, and the Boston-ish area, in five or so years. We shall see! But I NEVER shut up so I shall go now.

Below: These are some of my kids dressed up for tacky day during homecoming week.