Panther Pride!!

So another day in Gaston, NC with KIPP :)

Waking up this morning was a little rough as we all stumbled out of bed and made our way to KIPP. The students were still testing so we asked around for things to do. I began the morning with "stuffing mailboxes" as the teacher called it.

After a while I helped Elma type up the 7th grade students' pen pal letters. They were writing to kids from Africa and I was pretty surprised that this was a 2nd correspondence for many of them. I remember doing this while I was in school and I don't think anyone got a response...perhaps email expediates the process.

Today the high school had an assembly entitled Parent Pride. I think the original assembly was canceled because of snow and was rescheduled for today. Some of the other participants and I watched the band practice before the actual performance and saw that the students work very well together. The performance was a tribute to Michael Jackson. They played songs like Billy Jean and they were amazing. These kids put so much effort in scholastic work but still have time to excel in extracurriculars! Next the purple clad choir gave us a sampling of their talents and were equally as good. One of the other acts that stood out to me was a girl who "owned" the stage. She strut her stuff and had so much confidence as she sang. She was spurred on by ALL of the students. They were going crazy. They were "sending love" in a whole new way! Just watching how much the other students cheered for the girl was kind of surprising to me. When I compare it to other events and such I have been to in high school, although people were enthusiastic, these KIPP kids would have blown my high school out of the water. It was just very refreshing to see students care for each other that much :)

After the assembly, we had our "community" time. We had a very in-depth discussion on many issues surrounding education. We talked about issues like"teaching for the test" and socio-economic discrepencies. I felt many good points were brought up. Personally, I am not very educated about the issues faced in education. This discussion, along with our other Communities have opened my eyes to these issues. As a "student" my whole life, seeing things from the other side was very surprising. So much time and effort goes into making every teacher and school effective.

After that very intense conversation it was time for some relaxing. We all headed over to Cici's with many teachers and students. Each time I talk to a teacher it becomes more evident that it takes a special kind of teacher to teach at KIPP Gaston. These teachers are dedicated solely to their students and hold themselves accountable for their success. I only wish I had that much passion about anything!

Talking to students in a non-school setting seemed to relax the students. They weren't bound to talking about/doing school work. We were able to talk to them about music, movies, and anything that came to mind. It was a good time with good friends.

Good night friends :)
-Sita