Education Update - July 2002

JULY 2002 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLSSCHOOL3INSIDE THE SUPERINTENDENT’S OFFICE: BETTY ROSABy MARYLENA MANTASClassical music echoes through the hallwaysof IS 101, an intermediate school inCommunity School District 8 in the Bronx.Visitors can witness group work at its best, withstudents sitting together engaged in problemsolving and discussion. More impressive, however,remains the joyful, uplifting spirit of theschool, whose establishment in 1995 was partlydue to the district’s efforts to celebrate itsdiversity—District 8, located in the East Bronx,runs along the Bruckner Expressway, extendingfrom the Hunts Point peninsula and theMorrisania area in the south, through theSoundview Classons Point area in the center,and bounded on the north by Pelham Bay andThroggs Neck.Today, the school is the academic home ofstudents who call themselves “ambassadors” asthey are enrolled in IS 101 to represent the elementaryschool they came from.“This school binds us as one district,” saysBetty Rosa, Superintendent of District 8. “Itdoes not matter what local community youcome from. The school is symbolic of ourdiversity [and it is] a place that belongs to students.They own this school.”IS 101 is only one of 30 schools located inDistrict 8, which serves about 24, 000 students.“My first accountability is to the children inmy community,” says Rosa, who considers therole of the superintendent as that of the “masterteacher.” “Myprincipals are mystudents and thedistrict is myclassroom,” shesays.Her “lessonplans” stem fromher own experiencesas a teacherand a principal,but most importantlyfrom herown value system.The coreelements of thesevalues appear inthe form of a quotationwritten onBetty Rosaa blackboard in heroffice: “Go to the people, live among them,plan with them. Start with what they know andbuild on what they have. And, when the currentleaders leave, the people will say we have it.”“I serve the people, the children and the community…Iam here to provide guidance,” saysRosa, adding that she considers her job “themost humbling experience” and is guided byone of her grandmother’ssayings, “the best kind ofperson is the one that hashumility…no matter whatyour attainments.”Although she remainscommitted to her values andacknowledges that she is “acollection of her own experiences,”Rosa underscoredthat she embraces the differentcharacteristics of everyschool and the leadershipstyles of principals.“Every school in my districtis different,” she says.“[When I visit a school] Ialways ask myself ‘if I wasthe principal in this schoolwould I run it this way? [Theanswer might be no], but that does not meanwhat that principal is doing is wrong.”She will take advantage of any opportunity tomodel for a principal or teacher and whenobserving classrooms, or visiting occasionallyshe takes over. When hiring new principals shelooks for individuals who are strong leaderswith competitive spirits that know how to teachchildren in different ways. The qualificationsare similar for new teachers.“We look for teachers with content knowledgeand an ability to reach out to children. Welook for teachers who want to enhance the livesof children and teachers with a sensitive sidefor the struggling child,” says Rosa.On hot topics, like testing, the superintendentis bold and direct, saying that a child’s lifeshould not be judged by one snapshot. “It’s asad statement about what real learning is. Wekill natural curiosity in children,” she says.She supports maintaining and enforcing standardsfor children, as long as the learningprocess does take place and teaching is notrelated only to the test.“We have sterilized some of the stuff relatedto the joy of learning,” she says, adding thatit’s good to create frameworks as long as theyare not internalized. “I am a superintendent ofchildren, not of adults.”#Visitwww.EDUCATIONUPDATE.comFrom Coney Island to Paris to Miami: An Assistant Principal Shares Her ViewsBy LYNN K. ROBBINSRuby K. Payne states in A Framework forUnderstanding Poverty, “An individual bringswith him/her the hidden rules of the class inwhich he/she was raised.” However, he added,the impact an educator can have on a child canmodify those rules and change that child’s future,regardless of their socio-economic status. I’vebeen around public and private education for 36years, sometimes in a classroom, sometimes inan office, but always a learner as well as ateacher. I’ve certainly learned from my peers, butmore importantly, I’ve learned from the childrenby listening to who they are, where they comefrom and what it is that they need.I’ve taught in Paris at one of the most elite privateschools in the world; in Coney Island, ahaven for drug pushers and prostitutes; and asimilar neighborhood in South Florida. Based onmy experience as an educator I will argue the presumptionthat social ranking is the predominantfactor in determining what an individualbecomes and the contributions that he/she makesto society. The following are three stories aboutchildren that I’ve met. One was from a wealthybackground and the other two from poverty.They all needed to be heard.I met Sylvia in France during my first full-timeteaching experience. All of her permanent teethwere pulled when she was 14 because she had agum infection. Her mother didn’t want to gothrough the hassle of supporting her daughterthrough a year’s worth of dental surgery so falseteeth became an easier option. She had no selfesteem,and would even joke around by takingout her false teeth and making grotesque faces.Sylvia was last in her class at an elite internationalprivate school in just outside of Paris,France. She slept until 11:00 A.M every day andmissed most of her classes. The administrationcouldn’t do much with Sylvia so they let hersleep, took her parents money and moved herfrom grade to grade. I would wake her up in themorning to go to class. It was a Catholic schooland I remember Sister Anne not appreciating myinterference because I wasn’t Catholic. She wasafraid I might influence her religious beliefs.They had no clue that Sylvia had none. Her parentsasked me to escort her to their apartmentacross the street from Harrods, in London, duringChristmas and Thanksgiving. They weren’tgoing to be there and the only other option for herwas to be alone during those vacations, so Iagreed to her parent’s request. We were picked upin a Bentley and had a chauffer, a butler, plus allexpenses paid. I did it for Sylvia. She oftentalked about what sixteen year olds talk aboutwith their parents or someone they trust. But,mostly, we talked about math. She hated math.We discussed what she could do in life if she didn’tlearn math. There wasn’t much. Six monthsbefore graduation, all of the seniors were asked towrite a valedictorian speech. Sylvia’s was thebest. But she was last in her class and the administrationrefused to use her speech even thoughthey knew it was written with great passion andinsight. I talked with Sister Anne and she finallyagreed that Sylvia’s speech could be read by thetrue valedictorian. Following her graduationSylvia moved back to the New York area with herparents. Although her grades did not support heradmission to any college, I was able to convincesome friends at a local community college toenroll her in a probationary program. Sylvia wenton from there. She now has a doctorate, has publishedtwo books and developed her own business.Tranisha was a 12-year-old girl who lived inConey Island but rarely came to school. She wasretained twice and far too mature for her presentgrade. Her father was killed one day while tryingto save the life of a child who had fallen into ariver. Not soon after, her mother became an alcoholic.Every morning before 7:00 a.m. I wouldset out to find her underneath the Coney Islandboardwalk. She would come to school with menow and again, but not often enough. One day Iasked what it would take for her to come toschool every day. She told me simply that if shecould be a cheerleader, she would come toschool. I told her that could be arranged. I’vebeen an athlete all my life and had little respectfor cheerleaders, pom poms and all, but if thatwas what it would take for her to come to school,I would make it happen. I was an interventionspecialist at the time and was part of a restructuringteam at a struggling Coney Island elementaryschool. The principal knew that if I asked forsomething special for a child, he would see to itthat it was done. And so it happened. Tranishabegan coming to school every morning at 7:00a.m. with some of her friends and created acheerleading squad, (we had no teams, but thatmattered little.) She went to the gym and wassupervised by the security guard while I went tomy office. There was much to be done at theschool and we put in long hours. Tranisha cameto school every day for two weeks, worked withher group, went to cafeteria for breakfast andthen to class. She was smart, and the teachersknew it. One day she asked me to stay for themorning practice. I agreed. What I observed wasremarkable and had no resemblance to cheerleading,as I knew it. She had recruited overtwenty of her classmates, mostly girls but someboys as well. She stood in front of her troupe,four lines of children, one head behind the other,standing perfectly straight and silent, with handsat their sides. Then she gave the command tobegin. They performed intricate maneuvers inunison including clapping, stomping, tumblingand chanting. I do remember that when she gavethe command to halt, one girl said something toanother. Tranisha called her name and pointed tothe door. The girl left the gym without a sound.She had violated the rules and she knew it. Icalled schools in the neighborhood that hadteams, secured funding for a bus and we becameregulars at many halftime shows. Tranishabecame a great leader of her peers. I nominatedher for a leadership award presented by BoroughPresident Golden. There were 600 winners butonly one was to receive the top award. It wasTranisha. As the award winner, she had to preparea speech to present in front of the other 600nominees and their parents at City Hall. Not onlydid we help her with her speech but we had todress her as well. There she stood, at the podium,in a donated white satin dress with matchingheels. She was brilliant. After the speechBorough President Golden presented her with aplaque and put his arm around her for a photoopportunity. I knew she was a leader and so didshe. More importantly, her mother did as well.She was sitting in the audience, for the first time,acknowledging her child’s accomplishments, andshe was sober. She, too, had prepared for thisoccasion.When John was eight years old he saw hismother and grandmother raped and sodomized atgunpoint by someone he knew. He became amute for a year. He was retained for one year andhad a list of discipline referrals that made himundesirable to most school administrators. A fewyears later, a community leader brought him tomy attention and asked that I enroll him in thespecial school in South Florida. I met with hisgrandmother and then with him. There wassomething in his eyes. I enrolled him and becamehis mentor. I was called when things happenedwith John, when he bullied a child or disrespecteda teacher. I do think that he was testing me,and my commitment. I left for New York thatsummer and gave John four envelopes with myNew York address and stamps on them. Ireceived four letters. He received postcards fromMontauk and Manhattan. When I returned inAugust, I opened a bank account for him with theproviso that whatever money he made workingas a babysitter or at other odd jobs, he had to put50 percent of it in the account. The rest he coulduse for whatever he wanted. The account wasopened with $25. After 4 months he had over$80. I told him by the time he entered college, hewould be able to buy whatever he needed. Henever thought about college before and now hedoes.These children have reacted to the images andsounds of their different environments and havemoved beyond those experiences. With borderscollapsing, human dignities being devalued andpersonal hopelessness growing, we need to lookcarefully at the impact that educators can have onunderstanding and nourishing each student’sability and willingness to learn. As an administratorand a teacher I have learned to listen andthen try to engage, inspire and create excitementin the process of learning. The goal is to broadenperspectives and offer greater choices. That is theultimate role of anyone who has taken on theresponsibility of educating our children.#Lynn K. Robbins is currently an educationaladministrator in Palm Beach County and has anM. S. in Sports Psychology from BrooklynCollege and M.S. in Administration andSupervision from CCNY. She is past VicePresident of Phi Delta Kappa, ColumbiaUniversity, and is currently pursuing her doctoratein Educational Leadership from FloridaAtlantic University.#