BOLDSCHOOLERS

My first day teaching, I walk into this classroom of 5th graders. No supplies, no books, nothing. Just me and thirty ten-year olds, each one with their own heavy baggage. We've got Marcus, who's got real tattoos down his body from his time as a drug runner, Tasha sitting quietly in a corner, smelling like urine from no running water at home, and Jamal hurling a chair across the room, cursing as it flew... So, end of that first day, I'm in my car crying, PhD and all...degrees don't prepare you for this kind of real-world stuff. Traditional teaching was getting me nowhere. I'm sitting in my car, staring through the windshield, thinking. Could I even make a difference? That's when it hits me: those kids DON'T CARE and somehow I had to get them to care. Whatever I did had to be meaningful and it would probably help a whole heck of a lot if it could feel like play... Boldschoolers BOLD program where kids and parents fall (back) in love with learning.