By Ms. Jenson
About this blog: I am a language arts teacher at Crittenden Middle School and the facilitator of the CMS Panther Pen blog. I grew up in the Bay Area and I love it here. I went to school in Santa Clara, and studied literature and political science ...
(More)About this blog: I am a language arts teacher at Crittenden Middle School and the facilitator of the CMS Panther Pen blog. I grew up in the Bay Area and I love it here. I went to school in Santa Clara, and studied literature and political science at SJSU. My teaching career began with a short stint with high schoolers in 2004, and I moved to my home at Crittenden in 2006. There are too many reasons to list here about why I love my job, but the most important one is that I love the students that I work with. When not talking about books and writing at school, I am home enjoying playtime with my two daughters and music teacher husband. This blog is a collaboration between the thoughtful and inspiring students, staff, and parents of Crittenden Middle School. We will be sharing this space with all of the stakeholders in our Panther community. I would like it to be a place where Crittenden Panthers of all ages can write about issues or ideas that are important to them - whether they be silly or serious - and have a response from the community that validates that they are here, they are heard, and they are valued for who they are.
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Each year in my Exploratory elective we end our Public Speaking unit with a speech about "A Person I Admire," and every year I am blown away by the sincerity, thoughtfulness, and resilience that shines through their words. This year was no exception, and by the end of the class we were all laughing, crying, and cheering each other on. I am in awe of how much my students go through every day, and still come to school ready to learn and participate. Who do I admire? I admire my students every day.
Here is one (anonymous) submission from last week that had me in tears. Thank you for your honesty, and being brave enough to share with us!
Cheers, Ms. Jenson
Who do I admire the most? My brother, A---. He taught me how to take care of myself, stay safe, and taught me all the street rules. Three reasons why I admire him are for being strong, being a caring person, and changing.
My older brother was strong in a metaphoric way. After my father left he stepped up, he would help as much as he could with the rent. It seemed as if the rent raised each month, and each month it got harder. Even though I was only three at the time, I have these faded memories of him coming home from school and getting dressed to help at a local skate shop.
About a year later, we moved to Oakland. He was then 16 years old, living by street rules. He left the house because he didn't want my mom to see what he was becoming, so he moved in with my cousin. My brother would always be helping people out in any way that he could. He'd let people crash on his couch, give them some money, or help getting others out of trouble.
The last reason why I admire my brother is because after all that he'd been through he straightened himself out. He began to do this once he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant. He picked himself up out of the ditch that he had dug and trapped himself in. He was doing good, he even knocked me straight when I wasn't doing so good. However, this deteriorating world that we live in can't stand to see someone become successful.
I admire my brother because he stepped up as the man of the house at the age of 14, because he cleaned up his life and because he always helped people when they were down 'til his last day in this oblivious world.
We want to know, who do you admire? Who has inspired you?
