Pop Tarts

Today has been a tough day.  I have found myself staring at the news, watching the events of Ferguson unfold with tears in my eyes.  One man is dead.  One man is forever changed.  Families have lost their businesses.  It is hate.  Everything about this is hate.  And anger.  And bitterness.  So much bitterness.

I am not here to debate politics, or race, or what my thoughts on this case are.  I am saddened by it.  I spend weeks each year teaching "To Kill a Mockingbird" which deals with so many issues that I am seeing today.  Do you want to know my favorite aspect of this novel?  It has nothing to do with race, or gender stereotypes, social class, or loss of childhood innocence.  It is the simple fact that when the world is dangerous and scary, Jem and Scout always have a safe place to land -- Atticus.

This gets me thinking about how many of my students don't have an Atticus.  Atticus is a man who values education.  He values hard work.  He, above all things, values doing what is right because at the end of the day he has to be able to look his children in the eye and know he stayed true to his beliefs.
His children are his life.  His children are the reason that he fought a losing battle. His children are lucky to have such a man as a father.

Not all children are that lucky, and to be honest, from a teacher's standpoint, it sucks.  The hardest part of my job is not being able to bring students home for a weekend.  To show them family and make them home-cooked meals that we eat around the dinner table.  To give them their own bed, a warm place to sleep, with clean sheets and their very own pillow.  To make sure they have clean clothes, and a toothbrush, and toothpaste.  There are so many things I wish I could show my students who are in need.  But I can't.  I only have 50 minutes a day to show them that someone cares.  I have one shot to make my classroom a safe place.  And I have one desk drawer full of pop tarts and crackers in case they are hungry.  So, while it is not home-cooked meal, students know where to find pop tarts when they are hungry.  And I suppose when you are hungry, pop tarts can taste homemade.

They know that in our classrooms they are safe and loved.  These long breaks are tough.  We teachers worry about our school kids.  Some of our students leave the safety of the school for uncertainty and chaos when they go home, and they count the minutes until they are back in our classrooms.

If only I could bring them home.  Even just for a weekend.  But I can't.  So when they get back, I will have pop tarts.