Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A New Day...

Today, for Project 365, I took two pictures. I just couldn't help myself.

First, I need a picture of our media center. Today I took my students to RIF (Reading is Fundamental)--a program that is sponsored by local businesses to put free books in the hands of public school students to promote reading. This program is very near and dear to me as an English teacher. I become increasingly aware each year that I teach, that the way I was brought up--with a drawer busting at the seems full of books, read to whenever I wanted, watching my parents as life-long readers--is just not the reality of so many students.

A couple weeks before Christmas, frustrated with the complaining and lack of reading at home for homework, I asked my class how many of them had a pile of books as a kid. Three kids in the class (A students, by the way) raised their hands. I asked how many grew up watching their parents/guardians read for fun--either the newspaper, magazines, books. No one raised their hands, but one kid joked, "do the classifieds count?"

So for my students, these books are like gold. Some have been turned off to books forever and don't really appreciate the donation, but many eat the books up like manna from heaven.

So I had to take this picture. In the background you can see the band playing because the theme of this month's RIF is music. You can also see the huge screen in the background. This leads me to my next picture...


Today we welcomed a new president. My students were ALL excited about this huge event. To accommodate as many students as possible, all teachers showed the inauguration speech/swearing in, but since it happened at noon (lunch), the media center was also open to those who wished to watch. Many students sat quietly--all on their own accord--to watch our first minority president get sworn in. I saw tears in the eyes of many students today...something that put a lump in my throat.

The reason I thought these pictures went together today was because I believe in our future as a nation. I firmly believe that the students I teach today can make our tomorrow better. I also believe that today will forever be seen as historic for the new start and the new hope that was brought to a struggling nation.

I don't think it matters if you are a Democrat or a Republican, today was a great day for our nation. Let us all join in prayer for our new administration that our nation may be lead out of the hard times, and into a brighter future with the help of the next generation.

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