ASKING QUESTIONS, EXPLORING OPTIONS, CHANGING THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.

School House

Kryptonite and Social Action.

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Quest Early College High School. Senior Exhibition Project: Journal Entry # 2

Thursday, January 26, 2012.

This Thursday was one of the rare days of school that I felt I learned something profound and meaningful. Kap McWhorter stood before my class and requested each student draw a four scene children’s book about a social action project we might want to do in the future. After my class finished our drawings of hungry villages being given food and orphans being given homes, we were asked to reflect.

“Who is the hero in your story?” Mr. McWhorter wanted to know.

In our stories, the answer was clear. Most of my classmates and I had drawn ourselves as the heroes of our stories. We had envisioned ourselves as beacons of light bringing books to impoverished communities and “catalysts of justice” (to quote a classmate of mine) who brought disaster relief to Japan. We had drawn ourselves, as Mr. McWhorter pointed out, as supermen.

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Making a Difference

Bottoms Up: Utilizing Social Action to Inspire at the Source

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There is really no avoiding the grandiose, often idealistic, language associated with the connected fields of education and social action.  I do not believe these lofty aims are simply the machinations of politicians and fundraisers; rather (for the most part), they are the noble intentions of individuals exercising in a post-industrial construct.  I have fallen prey to my own lofty, heroic ideals on numerous occasions, and can still sense their siren’s call when standing in front of a classroom full of students, or auditorium full of educators.  Unlike many who proffer plans on how to “change the world,” I have had the beautifully brutal experience of seeing my most well-intentioned plans crumble in a red cloud of African dust.

After living with a group of orphans in Thoera, Mozambique, a tiny village near the Zambezi River, I found myself in the most epic heroic narrative of my life. (more…)