7th grade moustache

Yes, I saw a 7th grader with a moustache this week. Faint, but visible. Little wispy hairs, not enough to shave, but enough to make him seem cool to the other boys. Plus, he was like 5'7" tall...which, if you've been around middle school kids much, you know that is really quite tall. The average 7th grade boy is maybe five feet tall, with arms and wrists like spring branches reaching out to touch anything kinesthetically interesting. I subbed for a science class where the student-teacher did everything. I was just the legal certified adult in the room, a back-up (which, there was a fight, initiated by an unwanted wet-willy, during one period--but it was like over in 20 seconds). It was a very fascinating three hours of human observation. There is an amazing amount of variety in a random sampling of twelve-year-olds. Body shape, size, work ethic, classroom behavior. Which makes the fact that someone found my blog from this search string even more humorous: "how to help students realize value of education". Hmmm, not sure I have the answer for that one.

Eight of the last ten substitute teaching days have been at a middle school...4 of which were consecutive days for the same teacher. I met a future comedian who, everyday, had a funny story to tell about his iguana and poop. Now the next three days, I have another extended assignment. The crazy thing about this week is that the weather is blazing hot here...like 90 degrees, if you can believe that. So these old schools have no AC, poor insulation, horrible ventilation, and it's a sweaty, smelly, sleep-inducing, irritating school day experience for the kids by the end of the day (and their teachers!). Somehow we all make it, but is it uncomfortable! Try putting a business CEO in that kind of work environment for 7 hours and see how he/she feels! These Spokane kids do unbelievably well, actually. They bring water bottles, wear sleeveless shirts. I told one class of 8th graders today, "Everytime you talk, you release 98.6 degree air into the room. It'll get cooler if you don't talk." They believed me, which I'm not sure that statement is false--I just don't have proof. One girl even said to me, "You should be a science teacher." I think they thought I was super-smart for knowing the body's core temperature was 98.6.

But back to the million dollar question, how do you help students realize the value of education? Show them the money! Or at least tell them about the money. Education = choices = money.

With education (and the corresponding knowledge and skills), they have more opportunities and a greater array of choices. Choices for college. Choices for jobs, careers. The choice to not live with their parents until they're thirty! And with choices for higher education and jobs, comes money (i.e., fast food server vs. engineer--as one extreme example). And with money comes more choices--where to live, what to drive, how to dress, what to eat, how one lives, etc.

If kids can see that connection, the long-term benefits of education, then maybe there's a chance.

Did I forget to tell you Yusef came to town?

Spokane's annual Get Lit! festival was a few weeks ago. Yusef Komunyakaa's poetry reading (April 21 in Cheney) was amazing. His deep, resonating voice was mesmerizing . . . which if you don't get turned on by poetry, you won't really understand what I mean.

Fun fact question: what do Yusef and I both have in common, besides a love of reading and writing poetry? We both had the same creative writing professor. Christopher Howell was Yusef's teacher at Colorado State long ago...now Chris teaches in the MFA program at Eastern. Chris's Lynx House Press also published Yusef's first book of poems, Lost in the Bonewheel Factory.

I also heard Julie Gamberg read poems from her new (and first) book, The Museum of Natural History. I highly recommend it if you enjoy lyrical poetry--you can buy it direct from EWU Press. She opened up for Nancy Pearl, who was very witty and engaging. Then Saturday night there was a late-night poetry reading at The Davenport Hotel. And then...the following Tuesday, Donald Hall (yes, Donald Hall!) gave a poetry reading at Whitworth College! Man, it was poetry heaven in Spokane! All my favorite poet/writer friends were in attendance and I shook Donald's hand, he signed my two books (Without and his book of essays), and was such an enjoyable man. Because of his age (Robert Frost was his teacher at Bread Loaf...he's almost 80 years old), I suspect he may not be giving too many more poetry readings outside of his general hometown area. So I felt very honored to have heard him read his work, plus his witty transitionary banter between his poems. (Here's a neat interview with Donald Hall.)

And to give you a taste of Julie's style, here are some of my favorite lines:

"I am not a twin and have never felt part of something larger. When I look up I do not contemplate the universe and feel tiny. I am always wide open. I am enormous."

- the last section "Pepper Shaker" from a prose (?) poem called "From the House (I)"

* * *

"The sky looms heavy as steel-toed boots.
Some years smear into the ones before and since.
A decade constructed out of smudged coffee grounds,
yellow nicotine stain, red wine spills everywhere.

It's so cold today, the sky
crammed beneath my skin."

- from "Fast Forward. Rewind. Repeat."