Message from ehernandez

[Anonymous]

Last year I taught 7th and 8th graders at Sun Valley Middle School. I think that my kids were awesome and were not given the credit they deserve nor the respect. It is hard for many of them to look beyond the world outside their doors because of the immediacy of that world. If they walk down the wrong block they could get shot and I am not exaggerating the situation. They face many hardships and fall into illegal activities for survival and then are treated like criminals instead of being given a way out of the situation. My student population also ran the gambit when it came to English proficiency. Some kids who had lived here their whole lives were stuck in the ESL System unjustifiably. Under those circumstance, I was still able to have my kids work on Arabic script posters; comment on Little Buddha intelligently and ask profound questions; watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and be impressed not only by the fighting skills displayed but also with the intricacies of the storyline. My kids rocked because they were able to do more than many of my colleagues would give them credit for.