doobleh-vay

I took my students to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center today. You can take yr school groups for free! . It was amazing! I will go back again with my family and explore and talk about using yr voice to speak up for injustice and the spirit of freedom. I learned a ton today and my students had wide wide eyes all day. They loved Sadie, a presenter who talked about freedom in large terms and gave them a pep talk on life. She talked about how even though we are free- we can lose our freedom to drugs, violence, prison, ignorance...She was such a cool woman- she told the kids to take a breath and hold it in- then she asked if she took that breath for them and they all said no! She encouraged them to all realize the power of their free will and to be determined to thrive. She told them they were in charge of their own lives. Very uplifting stuff.

We also gorged ourselves on Skyline Chili while in Cincinnati. It was my last field trip and as I prepare to leave the job(more than a job ever) next week I am sentimental at best... and at worst A WRECK.

Leaving these kids kills.

They have made me a better person-kinder, more complete, less assuming, more fun. They have been my balance for the last 6 years. They were my internship to motherhood. A lot has happened in those 6 years... I lost a student to violent crime, I birthed two babies, I became politically informed on our education system, I grew up.

Teddy J (future President of the United States of America) and I shared my Ipod today on the bus. I schooled him in Bob Dylan, U2, and other music he classified as garbage. I closed my eyes and played that little game with myself where I pretend the music in my ears is the soundtrack to my life. I am living a movie clip and I hear Greenday spin out:

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test, and don't ask why

It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

Teddy says that song is OK.