The post below is the fifth in our series of submissions from the Long Beach Writers, a group of students in Literacy Workshop classes given by Devon Day at Wilson High School. The Long Beach Writers are working throughout the summer on their writing and submissions for the Long Beach Post. The big story behind the story is their raising funds to go to Inwood, West Virginia to meet their pen pals and experience firsthand the similarities and differences in culture between Inwood and Long Beach.
Right now, the class is looking for any help that they can find in funding their trip to West Virginia in October. Many have stepped up to help but with such a large undertaking on this trip, there is still a long way to go towards the $38,000 need to feed, transport and lodge 30 high school students. Mayor Bob Foster and City Councilman Gary DeLong have pledged to help the group reach their goal, and you can, too.
To donate any amount to help send 30 students and 5 chaperones to Wasington D.C. and West Virginia, click here.
The submission below, like all of our Long Beach Writer submissions, is with the consent of the student; in this case like many we will post names have been changed at their request. What is revealed, and will continue to be revealed as more students contribute, is the positive impact Day and her Literacy Workshop are having on their lives.
My name is Andrew and I’m in the second period Literacy Workshop. Some people think that I live in a nice neighborhood and they think that I should be smart. However, it isn’t always true that all of the people who live in nice neighborhoods are smart. I know some people who live in some pretty bad places that are really smart.
I have struggled in school since second grade with Language Arts, Reading, Writing, and Grammar. Somehow I have been able to squeak by and pass classes and move up in grades; however on state tests I bomb out. This is how I ended up in this literacy workshop class but, I am so glad that I did.
I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to be in this class, because I feel it will make a difference in the outcome of my education. I am able to read better, write better, and most important I want to! I have had the opportunity to meet people, who come from different backgrounds than I do, but we all have one thing in common and that is a desire to succeed. At the beginning of class some people didn’t show it, but I know for a fact we all want to. For instance, one of the kids in my class is on the football team and doesn’t show he cares, but by the time the period ends he has all of his work done so he can play football. There are many kids in my class that used to be like that, but since they think school is easier they try and compete to see who can get better grades.
There are a couple people in my class that seem to be hopeless, but since Mrs. Day stepped into their lives they have changed drastically. Mrs. Day has no tolerance for bad behavior. She will make them get out of the class, like our parents did when we were younger, if they show disrespect. When they get back into class they get right to work. Mrs. Day is not in it to make us dumber; she is in it to make us smarter. Why would she be teaching us, isn’t that what a teacher is supposed to do? She won’t take “I can’t do it,” for an answer, she says “Never throw in the towel” and “You have more knowledge than you take credit for.”
At the beginning of the year when all of us couldn’t read very well some of the kids thought they were better than others and would laugh at the people, then Mrs. Day would step in and put them in the hot seat and make them read. Most of the time the kids that thought they were better than others couldn’t read better. So what we learned from that is that you shouldn’t judge others and you should treat people the way you want to be treated.