This change literally meant giving
up a trip to Los Angeles this spring.
I tried to do it and simply couldn’t
push it in class any more. What
we will do is something that all of
us can do: we will take a bus trip
into Seattle using the money that
would have paid for my trip to the
Spring JEA convention. A day pass
to all the attractions in our great
city for students who would never
have the chance to go to the top
of the Space Needle, visit the EMP
to see the new Star Trek exhibition
(I cannot wait), or ride the harbor
ferry around to see the city from a
different perspective. We can pay
for that. Everyone is going.
They wanted a sleep over in the
school, but Pepe and I decided
that was a bit too much. A 57-yearold adviser with an artificial
hip sleeping on the floor of the
classroom is just not going to
happen.
A fierce advocate for students
means that I will make choices that
work for my program and my kids.
I have to decide where to spend
my time and effort, and where to
leave. There are some people that
just will not get it and will never
get it. If you are like me and feel
you aren’t able to climb to the top
of Mount Scholastic Journalism
with the four or five revered faces
carved in stone, that is fine. Stop
trying to get there. It is such a relief
when you realize that you don’t
have to keep pushing, dragging,
pulling and complaining to get
there. Come, fellow adviser, and
sit with me in my car, and look at
Mount Scholastic Journalism in
all its glory enjoying the fabulous
air conditioning and a cup of
hazelnut-flavored coffee.
The first priority in my program is
that we will become a family. Our
main goal is to fill in the gaps that
exist for our staff. So when the
editor-in-chief of the newspaper
is gone for five weeks to mourn a
grandmother who died in Alaska,
a friend in his canoe group who
committed suicide and another
relative who died, all within
three weeks at the end of the fall
semester, this family will support
him, which means that getting out
another issue of the newspaper is
no longer possible. Helping him
grieve by leaving him alone, giving
him space and time to talk to the
staff about life issues is by far more
important and more meaningful
to my kids. Yes, I know what they
are up to in that newsroom, and it
is not the Troy InVoice issue three.
It is also the first time that kid
has smiled in about a month. It is
better that I do not know what is
going on in the newsroom.
So, we only put out three issues of
the newspaper this year. A fierce
advoca te for his students will make
sure people know that is not from
laziness, lack of passion or lack of
skills. It is simply what my kids,
my family, this year were able to
accomplish, and that is something
to be proud of. Three issues will
never get a ticket to climb Mount
Scholastic Journalism. Again, that
is okay.
In order to be a fierce advocate
for my students, I have to be
completely honest that the
issue lies with me. I have to
carefully parse my own needs for
recognition and achievement. I
have to locate the switch inside my
head that loves the recognition,
the honor, the status that comes
with being seen as worthy by
peers. To parse means to uncover
a deeper meaning. The deeper
meaning behind pushing my