Young and Sure – Laurel Hill 2

Young and Sure – Laurel Hill 2

I was 25 and had secured the position of Assistant Director for the Laurel Hill Continuing Education Program. It was a big title for a little Work-Study job. I was young and still at the stage where I thought it was important to expressing my feelings about things, solicited or not. I made quick decisions and had no trouble thinking I was right. Looking back at that time, I think of the line “I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now” from the Bob Dylan song “My Back Pages”. I suppose the line may seem rather cryptic but to me it says that there was a time in my youth when I took everything so much more seriously, right and wrong was clear cut, a time when I thought I knew more than I actually did. As I got older I realized that it's not that easy. Life and people are more complicated. It's better to listen more and talk less. I The view can look different from different vantage points. There's much to be gained in finding a way to work with those with whom you differ.

I was already at the school helping out in the classroom three days a week and now I was there a couple of evenings and on Saturday afternoons too. One of my job duties was to open the school gym for kids or adults depending on the schedule. The gym was open for kids grades 4-8 every Wednesday evening. My first evening on the job the gym teacher, bless her heart, left up the trampoline with a note saying “Do not to let anyone on the trampoline”. Are you kidding me? The gym is open to kids, there's a trampoline on one side of the room, the monitor, me, will only be able to be in the gym off and on throughout the evening, and there's an expectation that the kids will refrain from getting on it just because someone they don't even know says so? Oh well, I firmly told the kids to stay off the trampoline realizing that it would likely have little effect. I came back a couple of minutes later and indeed found them joyfully jumping on the trampoline. I sharply told them to get off, and somewhat surprisingly, they did. I reminded them that they were not to get on the trampoline. I had to leave to attend to one of the classrooms and so I left the gym. Upon returning 20 minutes later they were jumping on it again. I again firmly told them to get off and then warned them that when I returned if I caught anyone on the trampoline, no matter what the reason, I would kick everyone out and close the gym for the night. That worked for a little while but eventually they were back jumping on it having a good ole time. I once again ordered them to get off but this time a couple of older kids ignored me. I eventually had to get up on the trampoline myself and chase them off. I informed everyone I was closing the gym. By now it was less than an hour till closing so I told them I was not only closing the gym for the night but was also closing it for the following week as well. I was hoping this would provide sufficient motivation for them to obey my future requests. They all left complaining and making thoughtful and creative critiques of my gym management skills. Working in a Boys' Club in Troy had taught me that I needed to draw a firm line early as it's a lot easier to be strict to begin with and loosen up later than it was to do the reverse.

The following week I kept the gym closed for the first hour before I opened it. I never had to close it again, but then the trampoline was never left out again either. I started employing a tactic I had learned while at the Boys Club. Whenever there was something left in the gym that the kids needed to leave alone I assigned one of the kids the job of monitoring it. I always selected the kid who was one of my trouble makers for the job. He would be a kid the other kids respected or feared or both. I have found that an effective way to deal with problem kids was to give them responsibility helping me out. This serves two purposes: 1) It put them on my team resulting in eliminating or at least greatly reducing one of my problems; 2) It helped create a positive relationship between the two of us. We were now working together on a common goal. A bonus was that the “problem people” were usually very effective at keeping everyone else in line, albeit sometimes too effective. I did that job for two years and never had any real trouble after that first night.

Being at Laurel Hill both during and after school hours allowed me the opportunity to get to know many of the kids. I spent time talking with them whenever I could. They grew to like and trust me and would frequently come seek me out to talk when I was in the office. Like every school there were a few problems with some of the kids. I discovered that I did not view things the same way the school principal seemed to and it wasn't long before we started having a problem with each other. My history with these kids was recent and of course I had no experience being in charge of a whole school. From my vantage point it looked to me that he did not engage much with the kids and as such tended, in my opinion, to overreact to some of the kids actions. Being young, and probably seeing things rather simply, situations arose where the principle and I disagreed on what might be the best way to respond to a particular kid's behavior. I believed I had a better relationship with the kids. Many of them now knew me and trusted me. I also generally had more knowledge of what was going on with them. The principal, realizing this, would frequently ask me what I knew about certain incidents. I initially shared all the information I had with him. Sharing this with the principle was a little frustrating as he seemed concerned only with the “Who” with little concern about the “Why”. He was big on punitive measures and it looked to me that he did not factor circumstances into punishment. I am not completely against punishment but I believe sometimes there are better alternatives. A number of times I felt his punishments were unfair and resulted in making matters worse. Some of these kids were having issues at home and really could have used some care and understanding from the school.

Laurel Hill sat at the foot of a hill and the playground behind the school was at a higher elevation than the school. That was the area that was used for things like outdoor gym class activities and after lunch recess. The playground itself was level but it was a good 5 feet above that of the school and at the edge, on the school side, was a rather steep bank that went down to the level of the school. There was no fence and the kids were told to stay away from the school side edge. One recess period when I was helping to monitor, a couple of kids were kicking a ball back and forth. Although they were away from the edge of the playground one of the kid's errant kicks sent the ball far enough towards the edge that it managed to just barely catch the down slope and ended up bouncing into the principal's office window. The principal came charging out demanding to know who kicked the ball into his window. All the kids got silent and no one said anything. I had been watching and it clearly was an innocent mistake. After recess I spoke to the kid who delivered the errant kick and convinced him to go tell the principal. I offered to go with him and said I would vouch for his story. When we got to the office the principal insisted on talking with the boy and myself separately. I explained to the principal what had happened after which he doled out a weeks worth of punishment to the boy. I then met with the principal again attempting to get him to back off the punishment. I felt a warning would have been sufficient since it was clearly unintentional and they were playing in the middle of the field away from the edge. I reminded him the boy came forward on his own accord. His stance was that the best way to send that message was by showing that any and all mistakes would have consequences.

Well, that was the proverbial straw that convinced me to consider another course of action. I decided I would no longer provide the principal with additional information on these types of incidents. I didn't exactly announce my decision but he soon discovered it on his own when the next student incident took place and he called me in to asked me for additional information. I let him know that some of his information was not exactly right but I refused to provide him any further information on who did what. Naturally, upon learning this he was less than complimentary. He asked me why and I told him it was because I did not believe he would react in a manner that would be fair or beneficial to the kids involved. I can only think that he did not send me packing because I was popular with the staff. Many of the teachers, Angie in particular, stood up for me. It probably didn't hurt that I was essentially working for free. The classroom work of course cost the school nothing and my salary with the after school position was paid by the University. To the principle's credit he kept me on.

How arrogant I must have seemed to think that a trained, experienced educator should follow the advice of a measly little non-credentialed college kid. I had been there less than a year and I was trying to tell him how to deal with student issues at his school. I'm not saying I didn't have a point or even that I wasn't at least partially right. It wasn't what I did so much as it was the manner in which I did it. I now realize I was wrong to draw a line in the sand, treat him like the enemy. If I really wanted to make a difference I needed to respect his position, work with him, and be on his team sort of like the road I took with my problem kids in the gym.