We're just over a month into the school year, and I'll be honest: it hasn't been great. It started off with so much promise and then quickly crumbled. The counseling department is funded for 3 people- two "alpha" counselors, who handle academics, credit checks, and personal and social issues, and one "College and Career" person who handles all the college and scholarship applications, college rep visits, and career prep. This is a severely underfunded department state-wide, and national recommedations for a school with 1300 students is 5-6 counselors. So 3 is already stretched way too thin. And then one counselor got a promotion and the other one resigned, so my trio is down to 1. Me. And my mantra has become "I am only one person, I can only do so much". Coupled with several new people in other major roles that ensure the school runs, it's a setup for disaster.
And while I've spent some time feeling sorry for myself, and venting to many, many friends, I really feel sorry for my kids. I love my kids. That's why I work in public education. We all know it's not for the money, which is dismal especially considering I have a master's degree. I do it for the kids, even the ones who drive me nuts sometimes. I'm so glad I'm a person the kids can trust, confide in, seek assistance from, and go to. I overheard a kid, who is a bit of a handful and frequent visitor to my office, tell her friend that "Miss Conway is chill- just ask her to help you" and it defiantly made me smile a little bit. Just this week I helped a kid apply for free lunch because he lives with his uncle who doesn't provide him any monetary support other than a place to stay, and the cafeteria was telling him he'd have to pay for food. I helped another kid write a letter to social security stating he is a high school student so when he turns 18 next month his grandparents won't lose the small stipend they get for adopting him which goes towards their rent and utilities. He had come to me earlier in the year worried his family would have no place to live, so helping him contact social security to ensure they get a little bit of money for a few more months was a huge relief to him.
These kids stories go so much deeper. So many live with relatives, have parents in prison or who were deported, parents who died when they were just children or who left and have no contact now. I also have over 100 refugee kids, whose stories are for another day, because they are filled with heartbreak but also hope. They've seen and dealt with so much more than most adults I know. And yet, they come to school, in whatever state they can, and do what they can. They want to graduate. They want to get good jobs. They want to have families and cars and houses and nice things some day. And they're being shortchanged by a system that doesn't support them. And because I am only one person and can only do so much.
I work in a school full of people who care. Teachers who will bend over backwards to find ways to help kids understand the material and pass. Late work? No problem. Tutoring needed? You got it. Extenuating circumstances that kept work from getting done? We'll figure it out together, don't worry. I am so grateful for each of the adults who chose every day to come to a school that is underfunded, understaffed, populated by kids from low income areas with parents who may or may not support them and give it their all. They certainly inspire me on days that I want to throw my hands in the air and say "I quit! I'm done! You dont' appreciate me anyway!" So instead of shouting my resignation, I go home, try to let it go (I'm not terribly good at this, but I am trying), and know I'll be back the next day because it's about the kids and they deserve people who care. People who will go above and beyond for no extra pay, no extra thanks, and often no acknowledgement at all. And when a former student stops by to tell me how much they're enjoying college and they have a job and they're so glad I helped them graduate, then I know it's worth it.
And I'll keep voting and hoping others do to and maybe someday I'll be in a position that is better funded and I'll get a raise too. A girl can dream, right?
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