Humans of New York

Quite some time ago my daughter mentioned to me that I should take a look at a website called Humans of New York.  In case you didn't know my daughter lived in NYC for about eight years and taught school in Queens, NY.  If you think I have stories to tell, I've got nothing compared to some of her stories.  I've checked out this website intermittently and found it fascinating.  Last evening while dining with my part time editor, part time consultant and full time spouse my cell phone starting vibrating.  I took a quick look at it and there was a text message from my daughter stating to check out Humans of New York starting on or about January 19, 2015.

It took me a while but I eventually found a picture of a scholar by the name of Vidal.  He was standing in the middle of a sidewalk in the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.  He was wearing his hoodie and had a black bag in his right hand.  Under his picture was a commentary between Vidal and the photographer.  It read as follows.  "Who influenced you the most in your life?"  "My principal, Ms. Lopez."  "How has she influenced you?"  "When we get in trouble, she doesn't suspend us.  She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built around us.  And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built.  And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter."

Does this blog post have anything to do with my scholars?  No!  Does this blog post have anything to do with my view from the back of the room?  No!  So why am I doing this?  Because you will be able to follow the impact that teachers, coaches and principals have on the lives of young scholars through a series of photographs.  You will see that even in one of the worst neighborhoods you can find a scholar and a principal, plus one photographer that can tell you about the great things are happening in our schools.

I haven't sat in an elementary school classroom since 1964.  I haven't sat in a high school classroom since 1967.  I haven't sat in a university classroom since 1976.  Starting in 1976, my main source of information on what was going on in a classroom came from the media.  Unfortunately, the media thrived on covering all of the negative classroom issues as bad news is what sells newspapers.  Now that I've been in my classroom for four years and met some wonderful teachers I can tell you this with no uncertainty, a classroom teacher is one of the most under appreciated jobs there is and that is a sad commentary.  With that said I hope you will visit the Humans of New York website and read the wonderful story about Vidal and Ms. Lopez.  As you are viewing the website keep this in mind.  This same story can be found in every school, in every city, in every state in our country and around the world.  So the next time someone starts criticizing a teacher please give this person the Humans of New York website address so the real story of teachers can be told.