All of you who know me know that my weakness is Facebook. I love the daily statuses, the games, and being on top of world events, especially Hollywood world events. What you might not know is that one of my biggest pleasures concerning FB, though, is the opportunity I've had to peek into the adult lives of my former students. I'm going to name names (in most cases), so if any of you kids object, just message me and I'll invent a fake name for you. Right Aimee Granger? LOL You know who you are.
I must start with one of my favorite students in the whole world. Now, that doesn't mean the rest of you weren't important, but this kid grabbed my heart and I have never forgotten him. Tony Saunders, come on down!
When Tony was in seventh grade, he was a mess. He was doing poorly in class, his behavior made him the talk of the faculty room, and he was a fixture in the assistant principal's office. At the time, Bart Simpson was a popular cartoon character. No lie, Tony looked just like him. Well, our assistant principal, Mrs. Jones, decided that each of us on the team was to select an at-risk student and mentor him/her. However, we were not to let the students know they had been selected; we were to establish helping, encouraging relationships on the sly. When I eagerly announced I wanted to mentor Tony, my team members had the deer-in-the-headlight look before they burst out laughing.
Such cynics! I already knew that Tony could be reached. I'd taught his older brother, I knew his mother cared, and maybe this kid was wild, but he was not a lost cause. So, as we were instructed, I made an effort to get to know Tony. To get him to trust me. To get him through seventh grade.
Every day he'd come to homeroom and I'd ask him how things were going, if he'd done his homework, if he had his library book for class, if he needed a pencil for the day. Tony was smart, though, and he caught on to my not so subtle tactics. One day, I remember him looking at me in horror and blurting out, "Ms. Snyder! Why do you talk to me so much?!?" The jig was up. So I told him the truth, I had to. I told him that he was my project. He rolled his eyes, probably called me crazy under his breath, but he put up with me. It was a difficult year. One day I even called his mom in tears because I was so angry and frustrated with him. As always, she was very supportive. I never gave up on him. Due to many different factors, he began experiencing success in his classes; his grades improved, and he realized he liked doing well. Tony made it through seventh grade. I was there the evening he graduated from high school. Now, I see him on FB. He's a hardworking young man, and I'm proud of the person he has become.
I'm really glad for FB because I would not have known what happened to him unless I read about him in The Record or The Aegis. (We locals know that is not where you want to be featured.) I'm not totally up on all that happens in Tony's life because I have most of his feeds blocked. Bless his heart, he and his friends use the F-word as noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. And I can't help it, but such a lazy use of the English language just drives this English teacher crazy.
(PS: In case any of you are horrified that I have used his real name, please know that I obtained his permission before sharing this. And, I didn't reveal half the stuff I learned about him during our homeroom conversations. )
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