by Pearl Arredondo

So I grew up in East Los Angeles， not even realizing I was poor. My dad was a highranking gang member who ran the streets. Everyone knew who I was， so I thought I was a pretty big deal， and I was protected， and even though my dad spent most of my life in and out of jail， I had an amazing mom who was just fiercely independent. She worked at the local high school as a secretary in the deans office， so she got to see all the kids that got thrown out of class， for whatever reason， who were waiting to be 1）disciplined. Man， her office was packed.

So， see， kids like us， we have a lot of things to deal with outside of school， and sometimes were just not ready to focus. But that doesnt mean that we cant. It just takes a little bit more. Like， I remember one day I found my dad 2）convulsing， foaming at the mouth， 3）OD-ing on the bathroom floor. Really， do you think that doing my homework that night was at the top of my priority list？ Not so much.

But I really needed a support network， a group of people who were going to help me make sure that I wasnt going to be a victim of my own circumstance， that they were going to push me beyond what I even thought I could do. I needed teachers， in the classroom， every day， who were going to say， “You can move beyond that.” And unfortunately， the local junior high was not going to offer that. It was gang-infested， huge teacher turnover rate.

So my mom said， “Youre going on a bus an hour and a half away from where we live every day.” So， for the next two years， thats what I did. I took a school bus to the fancy side of town. And eventually， I ended up at a school where there was a mixture. There were some people who were really gang-4）affiliated， and then there were those of us really trying to make it to high school. Well， trying to stay out of trouble was a little unavoidable. You had to survive. You just had to do things sometimes. So there were a lot of teachers who were like， “Shes never going to make it. She has an issue with authority. Shes not going to go anywhere.” Some teachers completely wrote me off as a lost cause.

But then， they were very surprised when I graduated from high school. I was accepted to Pepperdine University， and I came back to the same school that I attended to be a special ed assistant.

And then I told them， “I want to be a teacher.”

And boy， they were like， “What？ Why？ Why would you want to do that？”

So I began my teaching career at the exact same middle school that I attended， and I really wanted to try to save more kids who were just like me. And so every year， I share my background with my kids， because they need to know that everyone has a story， everyone has a struggle， and everyone needs help along the way. And I am going to be their help along the way.

So as a 5）rookie teacher， I created opportunity. I had a kid one day come into my class having been stabbed the night before.

I was like， “You need to go to a hospital， the school nurse， something.”

Hes like， “No， Miss， Im not going. I need to be in class because I need to graduate.” So he knew that I was not going to let him be a victim of his circumstance， but we were going to push forward and keep moving on. And this idea of creating a safe haven for our kids and creating getting to know exactly what theyre going through， getting to know their families—I wanted that， but I couldnt do it in a school with 1，600 kids， and teachers turning over year after year after year. How do you get to build those relationships？

So we created a new school. And we created the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media. And we made sure that we were still attached to our school district for funding， for support. But with that， we were going to gain freedom： freedom to hire the teachers that we knew were going to be effective； freedom to control the curriculum so that were not doing lesson 1.2 on page five， no； and freedom to control a budget， to spend money where it matters， not how a district or a state says you have to do it.

So in our third year， how did we do it？ Well， were making school worth coming to every day. We make our kids feel like they matter to us. We make our curriculum rigorous and relevant to them， and they use all the technology that theyre used to. Laptops， computers， tablets—you name it， they have it. Animation， software， moviemaking software， they have it all. And because we connect it to what theyre doing—For example， they made 6）public service announcements for the Cancer Society. These were played in the local trolley system. Teaching elements of persuasion， it doesnt get any more real than that. Our state test scores have gone up more than 80 points since weve become our own school.

But its taken all stakeholders， working together. Because why should our students have to go so far away from where they live？ They deserve a quality school in their neighborhood， a school that they can be proud to say they attend， and a school that the community can be proud of as well. And they need teachers to fight for them every day and empower them to move beyond their circumstances. Because its time that kids like me stop being the exception， and we become the norm.

我在洛杉磯東區(qū)長大，甚至都不曾意識到自己很窮。我老爸是街頭黑幫頭目之一。大家都知道我是誰，所以，那時我還真把自己當回事了，我備受保護，而且盡管老爸在我成長過程中時常進出牢房，我卻有一個非常了不起的母親，一名非常獨立的女性。她在本地的一所中學工作，是學校主任室的一名秘書。所以，她見過所有因各種原由被趕出課堂，準備接受處罰的孩子。天啊，她的辦公室總是人滿為患。

所以，瞧，像我們這樣的孩子，在校外要處理許許多多的事情，有時候，我們就是沒那份心思來集中精神學習。但這并不意味著我們做不到。只不過我們要比別人多付出一些罷了。比如說，我記得有一天，我發(fā)現(xiàn)老爸全身抽搐、口吐白沫、 因為吸毒過量倒在浴室的地板上。說真的，你認為在這樣的一個晚上做作業(yè)會是我最先要處理的重要事情嗎？當然不是。

但我確實需要一個后援群體，一群愿意幫助我的人，確保我不會成為我自身困境下的犧牲品，他們愿意鞭策我，使我超越自己的期望。我需要老師，在教室里，每一天都對我說：“你能做得比現(xiàn)在好。”但不幸的是，本地的初中無法提供這樣的幫助。當?shù)貛团闪至?，教師流動率極高。

因此，我媽媽說：“你每天要到離這兒一個半小時車程的地方去?！庇谑?，在隨后的兩年里，我就這么干了。我每天坐校車到鎮(zhèn)上富裕繁華的另一邊。最后，我就讀于一所學生成分多樣化的學校。他們中有些人確實是幫派成員，而有些人則是我們這樣十分努力想讀到高中去的學生。其實，想著法子逃離麻煩是在所難免的。因為你要活下來。有時候，你就免不了做些身不由己的事。所以，也有不少老師這么說：“她一定是讀不上去的。她不受管教。她不會有什么出路的?！庇行├蠋熒踔琳J定我無可救藥了。

然而，當我高中畢業(yè)時，他們全都驚訝不已。我被佩珀代因大學錄取了，畢業(yè)后，我回到這所我曾就讀過的母校，當了一名特別教育助理。

后來，我告訴他們：“我想當一名老師?！?/p>

哎呀，他們聽到后都說：“什么？為什么？你怎么會想到要當老師呢？”

于是我就在這所曾就讀過的母校開始了我的教學生涯。我真的很想挽救更多有過如我這般經歷的孩子。所以，每年，我都和學生們分享我的背景故事，因為他們有必要知道每個人都有自己的故事，每個人都有過掙扎，每個人都需要別人在人生道路上拉他們一把。而我愿意成為那個在他們人生旅途上拉他們一把的人。

所以，作為一名“菜鳥”老師，我為他們創(chuàng)造機會。有一天，一名學生走入我的課堂，他在前一天晚上被人刺傷了。

我對他說：“你得去醫(yī)院，或者找一下學校的護士什么的?！?/p>

可他說：“我不去，老師，我不要去。我得來上課，因為我想要畢業(yè)?！彼哉f，他知道我不會讓他成為其自身困境下的犧牲品，相反，我們要敦促他們向前邁進和繼續(xù)前行。 所以，我是想為孩子們營造一個安全的環(huán)境，想準確了解他們所經歷的困境，想了解他們的家庭——我希望能這樣做，但是，在一所學生人數(shù)達1600人的學校里我無法做得到。而且，年復一年，這里的老師更換頻繁。 你又怎么能建立師生關系呢？

所以，我們創(chuàng)辦了一所新學校。我們的新校名叫“圣費爾南多應用媒體學院”。我們要確保仍然掛靠在我們的學區(qū)以獲得資金和支持。但是，除此之外，我們享有很大的辦學自主權：如聘請教師的自由，聘請我們認為高效的老師；同時，我們還擁有課程安排的自由，這樣我們就不會按教材上的章節(jié)按部就班地教學，不會；我們還可以自由控制我們的預算，將資金花在重要的事情上，而不是花在學區(qū)或州規(guī)定的事情上。

這樣，到了我們辦學的第三年，我們的學校是什么樣子的呢？呃，我們已經使學校成為了學生每天都想去的地方了。我們讓學生們感覺到我們在乎他們。我們的課程嚴謹且貼合學生需求，他們可以使用其熟悉的各種電子產品。手提電腦、臺式機，平板電腦——你能說得出的，他們都有。動畫、軟件、電影制作軟件，這些東西他們全都有。我們將這些東西和他們的學習、生活聯(lián)系在一起——比如說，他們會為癌癥協(xié)會做一些公益廣告。這些廣告在有軌電車系統(tǒng)上播放。關于說服力的教學元素當中，沒有什么能比這來得更真實了。自從我們獨立建校后，我們的州考成績提升了八十多分。

但這需要集合各利益相關者一同努力。因為，為什么我們的學生非得到離家這么遠的地方上學呢？他們值得擁有一所離家不遠的資質優(yōu)良的學校，一所他們能引以為豪的學校，一所社區(qū)也能為之驕傲的學校。而且他們需要每天都為他們而奮斗的老師，需要鼓勵他們擺脫困境的老師。因為，是時候要讓像我這樣的孩子不再成為非主流了，我們要成為主流。