Flights and Perchings III

In Streams 7, schools were discussed from varied points of view.

“I Wonder” by Sharrif

I wonder if I had never been
with the wrong crowd--
where would I be?
I wonder if I were a teacher--
what would I be teaching?
(page 45)

“The Classroom Where I am Sitting,” was Hope’s description of an alternative school housed in the New York’s South Jamaica projects:

I am sitting in the classroom at SJ40. The teacher, Mrs. Cook, has just finished explaining the lesson on the chalkboard. Now she asks questions. She explains each answer one by one and very slowly; so that she is understood.
At this time my classmates, who are four girls (including myself) and five boys, begin to get into our lesson. We each sit at our desk and think hard. There is not much talking. I hear the pencils scratching the paper. I hear pages in books turning, the fan going, and cars passing by outside. The class begins to get a little noisy because some of the students have finished.
We have many windows in our school. It looks like they haven’t been washed in a long time. The blinds are tan and dingy. In the morning the windows are open. In the afternoon all windows must be closed before leaving. Our lights look like ice trays. We have one that’s broken. Otherwise they are in good condition.
(page 60)

“School Daze” by Bell on the facing page, described a different attitude:

I hope they don’t want
much from me. I’ll give my
best; and hope they will
remember the things I forgot.
Why do I sit here? Why must
I stay? Only thing I’ve learned:
it’s not Burger King. I can’t
have it my way.
(page 61)

In "What Do I Like About Rikers Island,” Sam wrote how he felt about the school in prison:

I like school at Rikers Island because you can think and you can learn from your mistakes. I like it because you meet nice people and they care about you -- some people. If they did not care about you, they would not have a school. They would just let you kill each other. I like the people that work here because they do things that your own family would not do for you.
(page 64)

In contrast, Cindy wrote in “Children” about her father’s interest in education:

He brought my mother this country so she could make something out of herself. He found her a job and made her go to school to get her diploma. He also helped the rest of the kids to go to school. I wish I could give every child a father and mother like mine.
(page 135)