Being in school, I can admit to often complaining about how much work I am given and expected to complete. At times, I may even claim to be the complainer, having to go to a class after working for 8 hours straight at my job. But school is something I decided to add to my life by choice. Yet, still sometimes the idea of it is undesirable considering how much strength it truly requires.
For Booker T. Washington, he saw school as a land of promise. The idea of being able to go to school brought upon him a harvest of joy because it was a matter of pleasure. School seemed to him as the greatest place on earth, and not even heaven presented more attractions for him. He came across a picture of young people engaged in study which “made a deep impression upon [him], and gave him the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.” He was truly inspirational and can make people look at their education as more of a blessing; because it is. His expressions of love for education, makes me wonder if the high school students at Frederick Douglass Academy VI in far Rockaway felt the same.
The students at this high school have been finding trouble gaining a quality learning because they have been under the pedagogy of different substitutes throughout the year, with no one steady to really give them the education they deserve. From being a part of such a great major, I feel that English as a study demands one person who can guide you through each area of it, because not every teacher teaches exactly the same. One person might just delve deep into the stories while others might give you background information to help you to gain a better understanding of what you are reading so it could stay fresh in the memory for years to come. I can even remember the important things my English professors in 8th grade and in high school taught me based on repetition. So having a good steady teacher of English is important.
Frederick Douglass Academy IV is just one of the 160 schools around the New York City area who uses iZone, an on-line teaching tool that is used to assist the students in learning. But the students felt like that wasn’t enough. Their painted portrait of education displayed a totally different image than the imperfect sketch they were receiving. And so, they have staged several protests for the rights to a proper education in demand for an English teacher. While their truth is coming into light causing lots of uproar in the community, they have caused even more of a stir outside in front of the school chanting, “no teacher, no students.”
It goes beyond expression when a person has their own identity and knows exactly what they want and what they deserve. Confucius once said, “wherever you go, go with all your heart.” These young adults go to their high school with all their hearts ready to learn and have decided to join together in hearts in hopes for what is right. Like Booker T Washington, they are appreciative and have thankful hearts just for their education. Hopefully the authorities in Queens won’t wake up on the wrong side of the street and these students won’t get pepper sprayed for peacefully exercising their freedom expressions.