Put The Pieces Together

From 5/5/08-5/16/08 I had the privilege to work with 126 high school students in Jacksonville, Texas .  The total population of the high school is about 1200 students.  The students I worked with ranged from grade 9 to grade12.  I learned so much from each class and from each young adult individually. 

            The following are some of the comments from a paper I asked them to write.  I asked them to keep it as short as possible.  If they could answer what they received out of the class in one word, I asked them to do it.  I knew those who received the most could not just write one word or even just one sentence.  The responses blew me away.  Enjoy reading what some of our young future leaders wrote as much as I did.

While in this class I have come to enjoy school.  Seventh period was the worse class for me.  All I did was sit and read.  I often walked out of class randomly and most of the time I was either brought back in by an officer or never came back.  I have a tough life outside of school.  I deal with stuff you think is only real in movies.  To me, school didn’t teach us anything that we use out in the real world.  Yeah, if your SMART you will remember the stuff you learned in high school, go to college and learn it all again, then get some big fancy job and have no problems.  I remember some things and I am going to college, but that’s only a small piece of my life.  I’m also going to be helping my mom and a lot of other stuff that school does not prepare me for.  This class taught us things for the outside world.  It was fun and real…not just numbers.  I really enjoyed it and even though I will be graduating in a couple of weeks, I want to see this class in the high school.  I think it helps…A LOT!

Mr. Goode Your classes over acceptance have calmed me down a great extent and in turn made me happier.  This has given me a positive outlook on life.  Thank you!

I really appreciate the things you taught us.  You really helped us as you broke things down so we were able to understand.  You taught me things in these two weeks that I am able to take advantage of right now in my life.  Two weeks is not good enough, you need to be here full time.  You have changed me a lot and opened my eyes.  I really want to thank you. You have changed me a lot.  Thank you.

I think Mr. Steve’s communication class is a good class because it teaches people about right values.  The class talks about everything that goes on in the world today…we learn some pretty useful things like life quotients, self acceptance, perception.  These are what we need to have a good life.  I really believe that the kids in JHS will benefit from this class.

To tell you the truth Steve, I really was ns not looking forward to this class, but our daily lessons helped me view life different.  You helped me accept who I am, that the more I accept who I am the more I gain self-confidence.  The crisis portion with the primary and secondary causes along with the preoccupation with the loss helped me with my grandmother’s death.  It helped realize that what happened was just a law of nature.  It taught me how I should be acting and feeling and it was ok for me to grieve.  I also greatly thank you for listening to us and seeing things from out side.  For showing us there are other ways of changing situations thought being respectful and acting like a mature individual.  To sum it all up I really enjoyed your program and I like your sense of humor. 

I learned many things in these ten days.  Some were things that I never realized.  I am grateful to have been in this class and hopefully I can come back sometime in my next three years in high school so I can learn more so I can accomplish my goals in life.