Proud Trina10:10 PM 2 comments

Cobb County started notifying teachers of lay offs on Monday.  For whatever reason, they hadn't made it to my school until Tuesday afternoon.  As of 3:25 Tuesday, 12 teachers from Osborne had been notified that their contracts would not be renewed.  As of today, at least 25 people at Osborne learned that their careers in education had come to an end.

The past two days has been marred by tears and paranoia, as many of these people who will now be praying for unemployment have devoted hours beyond the normal workday to assisting children with no one else to turn to.  They have driven kids home because no one would come to get them.  They have taken kids to the doctor because they were sick or injured, and some even footed the bills.  These teachers go beyond providing art supplies and classroom decorations, they have become like mothers and fathers in the wake of broken homes because they not only care about the children they interact with every day, they love these kids.

This morning a general buzz was milling around the student body as I caught murmurs of kids wondering why their favorite teachers and coaches had been fired and even questioning their own educational futures.  A student even came up to me today asking if a college degree was even worth it when apparently it seemed it didn't do anyone any favors.  I don't know how convincing my answer was, but I did try to encourage him toward furthering his education.  Of course, this student has a 27% in my Health class.  College may not be in his future anyway...but it's not my place to shatter his hopes and dreams.   Certainly, he couldn't have been serious when he said job hopping as a restaurant server would be a solid plan.

Despite temperatures flirting with 90 degrees and humidity close to rain, by 2:00pm, the entire student body had orchestrated a protest via Facebook and text messages on the front lawn of the school (what were we thinking, discouraging the use of cell phones in the classroom?). Police were immediately out in full force ready for chaos and mayhem.  After all, Osborne is a school with a heavy population of gang members and kids with troubled backgrounds.

Instead, the students staged a completely peaceful show that included hoisting a long-term favorite English teacher on their shoulders chanting "we won't go back to class 'till we get our teachers back!" and colorful picket signs.  Even the administration was on the lawn chanting for the teachers (some of whom may find themselves back in the classroom).  Many students surrounded the man from Human Resources forcing him to answer their questions, demanding that he hear their stories and concerns.  The local news even paid a visit.  The protest lasted just over an hour until busses arrived and students were encouraged to go home. 

Today was pretty cool.  I'm proud of these kids and I'm proud to say I teach at Osborne.  What other student body could manage to pull hundreds of students out of their classrooms with no foul play?  I think it's pretty obvious...while it may be hard to tell at times, these kids do value their education.

The story on the news