Days 10-13 : B&G of Oahu, Pearl Harbor, Beachin’

From the second we landed, we could tell Oahu was different.

Sure, it was still in Hawaii. The weather was pretty much the same. But Honolulu was noticeably different. There were more cars. There were more people. There was a line to get our luggage, and then again to get our rental car. There was an actual interstate. What?

As we began our travels from the airport to our hotel in Waikiki (a beachfront neighborhood in Honolulu), we came to collective realization: we were in the city. While we were geographically close to where we began our trip, Honolulu felt like we were an entirely separate entity.

This is all relevant because it meant that our work would change. The first leg of our community service in Oahu centered around the Boys & Girls Club, which we had previously worked with in Maui. However, this time the work would be different. Being “in the city”, specifically a big city, carries a certain set of difficulties for everyone, but especially kids. We knew, just like in Maui, that the kids were going to need everything that we had -- but this time, it might just look a little different.

And it did. In Maui, the B&G Club was very lax -- come and go as you please, get there when we get there…they worked on “island time.” That’s not how things work in Honolulu, where a tight ship is run and kids have very clear expectations all the time. While debriefing, we found that a good number of kids actually preferred the structure. But don’t take it from me, let’s hear it from the kids!

“I liked Honolulu better because it was more organized.” - Anonymous Trip Member #1

“I felt like I got to know more kids because it was very clear when everything was going to happen.” - Anonymous Trip Member #2

“Honolulu was chill, just in a different way than Maui.” - Anonymous Trip Member #3

“What are you talking to me about? When’s dinner?” - Anonymous Trip Member #4

Just like in Maui, the kids and staff were great. Over the course of the two days that we were there, our kids once again rose to the challenge and creating great programming for the children of Oahu and made some amazing relationships, having a great time along the way.

This was a big moment of realization for me. “Different” often carries a stigma, that deviating from the path was a bad thing. But different isn’t always bad. It actually it’s not even often bad. It’s just...different.

Oahu is different. But in a good, unique way. I’ve been so impressed with our kids’ ability to code switch, to a certain extent, and show the ability to diversify their talents to meet the needs of two very different populations of kids. For me, it was one of the coolest things to see on the entire trip.

In the words of the philosopher Wiz Khalifa...work hard, play hard. We worked our butts off to get ready for and at the Boys and Girls Club, so it was time to play tourist. That started at Dave and Busters for some dinners and games, where once again the trip members learned that it is not wise to square off with yours truly in any sort of competitive event.

Day Twelve of our trip involved exposing our kids to a day at Pearl Harbor. This excursion was one that I had circled at the beginning of the trip, but I was surprised to find out that a lot of our kids had not been taught about Pearl Harbor in school (yet). “What happened here?” “Was it the end of the war?” “I think it was the Japanese.” These questions made me even more excited to show the kids my nerdy side at this historical site.

The tour was amazing. After getting out to Pearl Harbor, the tour started with a short movie that explained the build-up to Pearl Harbor, the actual event itself, and its consequences. We then took a ferry out to the USS Arizona memorial, the largest ship sunk on December 7, 1941. The USS Arizona is still fairly visible underneath the water, as we learned Pearl Harbor’s waters were only about 40 feet deep. The memorial itself was built perpendicular to the USS Arizona, and included a view of some of the visible parts of the ship, a list of those killed at Pearl Harbor, and those crew members who survived but then were cremated after their death and returned to the ship to be with their crewmates. We took a ferry back to shore, and went into a small museum that essentially was the synopsis of the video but in much, much more detail. I can tell I’m getting old because I absolutely loved this museum. (Note: These last five words have never been said by me at any previous point in my life). I was worried the kids would be bored like I was at museums at their age, but was excited to hear so many of them talking amongst themselves after we were done about how interesting they thought the day was and how happy they were that we took the time to go out and learn more about Pearl Harbor.

America.

The highlight of Day Thirteen was 100% Waimanalo Beach. Waimanalo is a beauty, soft-sanded beach that’s about 10 miles from our hotel in Waikiki, but was the perfect getaway. It has been rated the #1 beach in America as voted on by such experts as the Huffington Post and Dr. Beach. If I'm going to trust anyone with my beach-seeking needs, I'm not going to look any further than someone named “Dr. Beach.” Sidenote: How cool would it be to have this guy’s job? Just goes around, looks at beaches, then calls it a day. I think I need a new career path.

The beach itself was absolutely incredible and 100% lived up to the hype. In the background were the beautiful mountains of Oahu; in the foreground, water bluer than I have ever seen in my life, and in the distance, neighboring islands and craters off the Hawaiian coast. Our kids enjoyed their time at the beach, throwing a football back and forth, burying themselves in sand and overall just being kids and having a great time.

We are in the homestretch of our trip now, with community service at Habitat For Humanity and a hike up the famous Diamond Head mountain the only things in between us and the mainland.

Mahalo for reading and aloha ‘oe!

BD

Days 6-9: Eco Maui, The 4th, Aloha to Maui

The idea of “community service” with teenagers is an intricate business. While many of their peers are lounging by a pool, playing video games, or sleeping and dreaming of the best Kik message ever, we are pitching the idea of work to our kids. What? In Hawaii? Work? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!

The work, we told the kids, would be hard -- probably the hardest work we would do. We’d be working in the humid rainforest of Hawaii, cleaning up a nature preserve that hadn’t been touched in years. The work, we promised, would be difficult, but very much worth it. With this message in hand, we traveled away from tourists and into the heart of Maui.

We were met at our hotel by Nature Jay, aka J-Bird, who has run Eco Maui for over twenty years. Nature Jay ran us through the itinerary of our day, as outlined above, and we piled into our cars and headed out. We arrived about a half hour later at a privately owned nature preserve in Hawaii, which ranges over 40 acres of land. The land is privately owned but open to the public for observation and exploration.

Nature Jay explained to us that there’d be two types of service we’d be undergoing -- surveying and excavation. We began our service by going to Twin Falls, two waterfalls right near the entrance of the preserve. This was the “surveying” part of our service -- checking out the waterfall, making sure it was operational and not flooded in (spoiler alert: it operated at a high level). Just to make sure, we headed into the water and posed for some pictures under the falls -- because someone has to make sure that tourists can act like tourists, right?

After our surveying, the hard work began. We began working on the Nature Center, which had been created years ago but had been long overrun by inactivity and plant life. It was time for some excavation.

As I checked out my surroundings, familiar thoughts ran through my mind: teenagers. Dirt. No Phones. Oh, no.

Boy, was I wrong.

Our kids dove headfirst into the work. Armed with nothing more than construction gloves, water bottles, sunscreen and a lot of heart, amazing things started happening. Kids were working in teams of two to move heavy plants. They were working in teams of up to 10 (!) to pull up old plastic tarps that had been stapled in and covered in plant growth. They were moving bricks, digging holes, and sweeping away debris like they’d been doing it for years. Maybe they have. If that’s the case, thanks a lot parents!

We worked on the site for two “hours of power” before Nature Jay took us to a private spring which overlooked a beautiful waterfall. It was time to cool off, take more pictures, and make sure that the tourists were being accommodated.

The work continued on Day Seven, as we still had work to do at the Nature Preserve. We knew that we needed to finish, otherwise we wouldn’t leave the Nature Preserve with enough time to open up on schedule. Before we got back to work, though, we needed to survey some waterfalls. Actually, a lot of waterfalls. Five to be exact. Spending time observing, appreciating, and cooling off in these waterfalls was the perfect break before we got into our work.

As we finished up on the work we started on the previous day, we began retrieving chairs from a nearby shed. Why? Our guide, Nature Jay, told us that the culmination of our hard work would be a bonfire using the space we had worked so hard to clean up the previous day.

Now, I’ve been trying to update this blog with pictures to show you all what I’ve been writing about but I’m purposely leaving any and all pictures out of this section because there is no possible way a picture could capture the beauty of being out in the middle of a Hawaiian forest, with only a campfire and the bright stars as illumination for our night. At the bonfire, we all enjoyed s'mores and sodas before our reflection activity -- pick a song that describes what this experience meant to you. This was mine.

We spent the Fourth of July (Day Eight of the trip) relaxing and maximizing our time as best as any Hawaiian could -- brunching, beaching, and fireworks. The fireworks were especially beautiful, set over the water in the nearby town of Laihana.

On the Fifth of July, we spent the day getting organized and then taking a short (~45 minute) flight into Honolulu, our second and final destination on our service trip. Once into Honolulu we checked into the hotel, and checked out the local shops before settling in and gearing up to work at another Boys & Girls Club, this time on Oahu.

It’s crazy to think about already being halfway done with this amazing trip. As promised in the original post of this blog, the work has been rewarding (to say the least) and the experiences have been unforgettable. We are so excited to be in Oahu and continue working hard, playing hard, and living the aloha way.

Mahalo for reading and aloha ‘oe!

BD

Days 3-5: B&G of Maui, Surfing, Luau!

Work hard, play hard.

The former of this phrase took hold on Day Three, as Westcoast moved to the Boys & Girls Club of Maui. Initially, many of us had questions -- what would the kids be like? Would they welcome us in, or would we be intruding on their routines? Would they like us? What would the facility be like? These thoughts were in our minds as we loaded up our vehicles (most notably, the BradMobile) and headed across town on our short commute to the Boys & Girls Club.

Our group throwing up the "shakas" in front of the Boys & Girls Club of Maui.

From the second we walked in, we were adored by the kids of the Boys & Girls Club. The two days we spent at the club were nothing short of amazing. We spent about six hours each day working with the kids of Maui, who ranged in ages 6-17. We knew coming in that many of the kids of the club live under the poverty line, but that did absolutely nothing to damper their spirits -- in contrast, they actually seemed to be some of the most upbeat and personable kids that I have ever worked with. If the Maui Airport captured the “ALOHA” spirit of the islands, then the Boys & Girls Club captured the “Mahalo” spirit of the islands (meaning “thank you”) as all of us were so grateful to have the opportunity to meet and enjoy time with the kids.

There were countless opportunities to interact with the kids, some of which were already in place by the club while others were brainstormed and provided by the members of WestCoast -- us. Some of the highlights of the visit included a game of Sham Battle, which is kind of a weird hybrid game of dodgeball that was started in Maui; a Scavenger Hunt created by WestCoast trip members; intense games of Drip, Drip, Drop, which is essentially the water verseion of Duck, Duck, Goose, in an effort to beat the unusually hot temperatures in Maui for this time of the year; a B&G vs. WestCoast game of two-hand touch football; arts & crafts; Bumper Pool, another game authentic to the Hawaiian islands; ping-pong, billiards, basketball -- the list goes on and on.

The end of our time at the Boys & Girls club was an emotional one, with many kids writing letters to WestCoast members and chasing after cars as we drove away. In one instance, a kid literally had to be pulled off of a WestCoast trip member because they couldn’t bear the thought of us having to leave! As we reflected on our short time at the club, we talked about how tough it was to leave such great kids -- but also how the fact that it was so tough meant that we did really great work, which we should be incredibly proud of. Going forward, our community service work in Maui will be environment-based work, but we already can’t wait to meet the kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Honolulu, and can only hope to have just as an amazing experience there as we did here in Maui.

Selfie Nation is alive and well in Maui.

Next up was a fun-filled Wednesday that would make any tourist proud. We started our day by taking surfing lessons from a company based in Maui. Surfing, like everything else we’ve done so far, was amazing. When we got there, four instructors introduced themselves and gave us an extremely short (~10 minute) lesson on how to surf. This was incredible to me. Ten minutes?! I can’t even cook a meal in ten minutes. Now you’re going to tell me how to do something I’ve never done, in a place I’ve never done it, all in ten minutes? To say I was cautious was generous.

However, once we got into the water, everything flowed together beautifully. Not only did everyone successfully stand up on their board on a wave, but some of us even caught our own waves at the end of this! The “cherry on top” were the two sea turtles that were spotted, which swam right underneath a couple of our boards as we were waiting for those perfect waves to come through. The experience was captured by a professional photographer and everyone pitched in to make sure that we’d be able to hold onto these memories forever.

Post-surfing selfie with one of the kiddos in (you guessed it) Maui

Following surfing was lunch in Kihei (the city surfing was in) followed by an authentic Hawaiian luau at night. We knew that going to the luau wasn’t enough -- we had to dress the part. Some of us picked up some “Hawaiian Dad” shirts that would make any slightly overweight, mid-40s male proud.

Off to the luau, where we were treated to a pig roast, other Hawaiian cuisine, and a show for the ages. The show didn’t only include the “typical” luau aspects -- grass skirts and ukelele -- but also provided story-telling of the Hawaiian culture in the form of song, dance and ritual. There was even a part of the show where the audience was invited to go up to the stage to learn how to “Hula” (without the hoop), and it was so great to see almost every single member of our trip eagerly get up on to the stage to strut their stuff. The show was concluded with fire twirling, sending all of us off into the night with smiles on our faces and good food in our stomachs.

Next up for us is work at “Eco Maui” where we will learn about the physical preservation of this beautiful island, and then a 4th of July celebration (for us Americans) before we head off to Honolulu for the next part of our trip.

Mahalo for reading and aloha ‘oe!

BD

Days 1-2: Welcome to Maui

Aloha from Maui!

My name is Brad DeFauw, and I am lucky enough to be one of the trip leaders on this year’s 2015 Hawaii Community Service trip. Over the course of the next 18 days I will be writing from the tropical, 80 degree, breezy shores of Hawaii to share some of the exciting things that we’ll be doing on the trip. The trip promises to be full of rewarding work as well as unforgettable experiences that we’ll all be able to carry with us forever.

Let’s start from the very beginning: Day Zero. Before any of the kids arrived, this year’s Trip Director (Rebecca) met with myself and the other Trip Leader (Shaye Lynn) a day early in Hawaii to get settled in, organized and ready to go. Rest assured -- we made sure to scope out all of the best beaches and restaurants in Maui. For the kids. Yeah, definitely for the kids.

This is not a picture out of a magazine. We took this. With the help of some filters. But still.

Once Rebecca, Shaye and I were all unpacked and adjusted (to the best of our ability) to the six hour time difference, we couldn’t wait for the kids to show up. Day One consisted of meeting everyone at the Maui Airport, a beautifully small airport that included a door-free lobby. It perfectly captured the “ALOHA” spirit of the island.

Sidebar: What does ALOHA actually mean? I didn’t know before I came here, but the word “ALOHA” is actually an acronym for something much more powerful. Each letter stands for an authentic Hawaiian word that perfectly captures the spirit of the islands…

A - Akahai: kindness

L - Lokahi: unity

O - Olu’olu: agreeable

H - Ha’aha’a: humility

A - Ahonui: patience

Aloha is used here in pretty much every sense of the word you can think of: in a greeting (Aloha!), in a farewell (Aloha!), as an adjective (it was so Aloha of the small fish to clean the big fish’s teeth!), etc. The idea is that any way you use the word, you’re not truly captured the essence of “Aloha” unless you are filling all five of its characteristics: kindness, unity, being agreeable, humility, and patience. I thought this was a really awesome way to begin the trip. Anyways...onwards.

All the kids arrived in the Maui airport (yay!) and immediately started to get to know each other and their trip leaders. We played some icebreaker games such as Indian Chief and Bang! while enjoying snacks and the beautiful, breezy Hawaiian sunshine. Did I mention that it was breezy here? It’s really breezy here. It’s fantastic.

Once everyone got to the airport we headed to our hotel, the Maui Seaside. The hotel is a small, quaint hotel that’s right on the water in Maui. Once everyone was settled in, we discussed some basic pool/common space rules before letting everyone had some free time. Again, everyone immediately dove right into meeting each other -- some opting for soccer, others for a dip in the pool, and others for a relaxing poolside lounge after a long day of traveling. After ordering some pizza, discussing the behavioral expectations for the trip, and having everyone lose to yours truly in Rock, Paper, Scissors, it was time to go to bed and get ready for a big Day Two.

Our beautiful seaside hotel.

Day Two was truly incredible. It was an early wake-up, as we woke up at 7:00AM Hawaiian (although that’s 1 PM Eastern so is it really that early? I digress.) to embark on our snorkel cruise. But Brad, what exactly is a snorkel cruise? Well, let me tell you.

Our first stop was the world-famous Molokini crater, a sheltered islet about a half hour off the coast of Maui. Because the crater is sheltered, we were able to see many species of fish in their natural habitat -- over 250 to be exact! After we were done exploring the carter we traveled to the island of Lana’i, where we were once again lucky enough to see a wide array of wildlife in their natural, secluded, protected habitat. We even saw a Green Sea Turtle and a couple of the fish made famous from “Finding Nemo” which are indigenous to Hawaii and can only be found here.

Ok, fine, I didn't take this picture. But this is the Molokini Crater, the first stop on our snorkel cruise.

After a full day in the sun we ate some Mexican food and prepped for our first day of Community Service at the Boys & Girls Club of Maui tomorrow morning.

The motto that I imagine for myself and for the kids on this trip is “work hard, play hard.” So far, we have definitely played hard (really hard), but I know that I speak for everyone here when I say that we are so excited to get to work and make a big difference in Maui starting tomorrow morning.

I’ll close this blog in true Hawaiian fashion:

Mahalo for reading and aloha ‘oe,

Brad

The Blog is Back! (Kinda)

Over the course of the next two weeks or so I'm going to be writing some blog posts from out here in Hawaii. The reason I'm doing this is because the parents of the kids I'm working with read through all my previous blog posts, very obviously decided that they needed me to capture their kids' experiences, then said the following to me:

Parent 1: Brad, you and I both know why you're here. I'm going to write a number on this check. You tell me how many zeroes need to come after it.

The rest is history.


OK, so that might not actually be 100% factually accurate, but either way I'll be writing a blog through my company this summer and wanted to share it with all of you. The company is going to edit out my blog posts to their liking, but as Brad DeFauw Exclusive Club Members I am going to post all the "raw" posts to this site for you all to read.

That's pretty much it. Enjoy. Mahalo!

BD

End of the Year Reflection

It feels a bit awkward calling this post an "end of the year" reflection. After all, as most schools around the capitol are letting out this week or have already let out, my school is still in session, and far from coasting in. This week, we are taking final exams, and have another week of instruction next week before a final "spirit week" that includes a graduation & gate ceremony for our 8th graders who are going on to high school next year. Regardless, I have a bit of time to write today, as I am not proctoring an exam, and decided that now would be as good of a time as any to wrap up my first year of teaching.

People tell first-year teachers that they will probably hate their job the first year. In fact, I have been told, many of the best teachers around the country had terrible first years, to the point of walking out on their job in the middle of the day -- no two weeks notice, no goodbyes, just a staunch "I'm done." While this has not been my reality, I can't say that my first year of teaching has been an enjoyable one. Much of the optimism I had towards teaching at the beginning of the year has been replaced with a tired attitude towards the profession; an excited attitude to stand in front of the classroom to mold minds is now instead replaced by feelings of dread and anxiousness as I hit my alarm clock in the morning and prepare to head into the lead role of my classroom.

It's very possible that a variety of factors may have played into what I'm currently feeling. Firstly, the school I teach at is at on an extended school year. While other schools around the country are winding down and looking towards the end of May and June with excitement, we instead continue to push our scholars hard towards "higher levels of mastery" and "getting ahead" of their peers across the city. While this is certainly being accomplished, it's at a certain point where you have to ask yourself if it is worth it. I walked into this school this year surrounded by some of the most positive, joyful teachers that I have ever encountered, many of whom have been at this school or in urban education for multiple years. This gave me hope that teaching in "tough areas" wasn't really that bad, and that it was a bit overrated. However, in June, I now see tired faces, joy replaced with exhaustion and a desire for the year just to be over. There's also the fact that the school day runs on an extended time (starts at 7 AM, ends at 4 PM, I leave around 5-6 on a normal day), many of the children we teach go home every day to incredibly difficult situations (many do not have a father, all live in poverty), I wasn't entirely sure what to expect coming into this situation -- the list continues. What is for certain, though, is that the feelings I have about teaching now are certainly not what I had hoped them to be in August.

I will be back next year, but my mentality coming into it will not be the same. I will admit that coming into this year, I was extremely naive, and saw myself having the impact on the scale of a "Dead Poets Society" or "Freedom Writers" level. Robin Williams just made it look so damn easy.

People told me that teaching would push me to a level that I could not possibly prepare myself for, but I scoffed at that. "They don't think like I do," I told myself. "I'll be different."

What I now know is that the truth about teaching, especially in urban areas, is that there's only about one good day a week, if you're lucky. More realistically, there's about one good day every two weeks, and if you're really lucky, you get a great day once every month or two. In order to survive, you need to find that day and keep it in your heart. Because on those other bad days -- and they get really bad -- you need to remind yourself what that looks like.

For me, that looks like a scholar named Kiersten making "Century Club" for one week of the year, which denotes scholars who perform the best behaviorally in a given week at my school. Every other week of the year, Kiersten was at the lead of the class in detention and out-of-class referral numbers, but for one week of the year, she behaved well, she was a leader, AND she was happy.

That looks like a scholar named Tykivis, who, after by far the toughest day of my short-lived teaching career (I pretty much snapped and looked like this while in the middle of class and looked like this walking out of work) came up to me at the end of the day and as opposed to going to hang out with his friends, decided to tell me how great he thought I was and how happy he was to have an opportunity to get me as a teacher. How lucky am I to receive that, I thought, after I had for so long loved so many of my teachers but had been too timid to tell any of them how much they meant to me.

But that's the truth within teaching. It's a largely thankless job. I just got done reading Tony Danza's book, "I'd Like To Apologize to Every Teacher I've Ever Had" in which he chronicles his one year teaching one class at a low-performing high school in the middle of Philadelphia. While Mr. Danza certainly did not have an accurate representation of what it's like to be a full-time teacher, he did bring up a few really good points about the profession. My favorite scene of the book is when he made an analogy between teaching and boxing (The Boss' profession before becoming an actor). Teaching, Danza says, is a lot like boxing, in the way that you have to bring it every single time you step in the ring. You have to prepare yourself for anything that can and inevitably will happen, and when it does happen, you can't lose your composure.

The difference between boxing and teaching is that in boxing, you're allowed to hit back. In teaching, you have to take the punches day after day, week after week, and month after month -- and then try to keep a positive attitude. On top of that, you aren't thanked for taking the punches, but are merely viewed as someone who is filling their role in the system, much like a punching bag. But what makes the best teachers are the ones who are able to step away from that idea, which is truthfully very much a reality of teaching in urban education. You have to remember the bright spots, even if they are only a spot which is surrounded by a coat of darkness and negativity that this profession seems to surround many of us on a daily basis.

As I go into my second year of teaching, and my first full-year of being a lead teacher in the classroom, I will remember Kiersten's Century Club Week. I will remember Tykivis' selflessness. I will remember the smallest of interactions with these children which tell me, even if it isn't with words, that they appreciate, or at least have a slight amount of respect, for what I'm trying to do here. I will remember also the deeds of others inside and outside of this building that tell me that success in urban education is possible, and that maintaining a healthy state of mind in such a stressful environment is realistic. Finally, I will remember the stories of all the teachers who had absolutely miserable first years -- filled with tears, screaming and hopelessness -- who came back and made a promise not to be a great teacher, but only to get better. Day by day, week by week, month by month.

That is my promise to myself going forward. In my mind, I'm not a great teacher today, I won't be a great teacher tomorrow, and I probably won't be a great teacher at this time next year. But if I make a commitment to myself to keep getting better, in the face of all the adversity that being a teacher brings, maybe one day I will be -- and if I'm lucky, maybe even a couple of the students I teach will think I'm as influential as John Keating.

Carpe (every) Diem.

-BD

Thoughts on the Strongsville Teachers' Strike

First off, before this gets going: familiarize yourself with the teachers' strike in my hometown of Strongsville, Ohio. If you don't know what's going on there, this will just be an angry rambling about a subject you have no informed opinion about, and no one really wants to read that. Some good articles surrounding the strike can be found here, here and here.

Also, the picture below does a pretty good job of summarizing where we are at with negotiations right now.

The strike started March 4. For those are you who are not good at math -- that's totally fine, I'm a math teacher and google is a great resource. Scoring at home, today (April 23) is the 50th day that the Strongsville teachers have been on strike. That's 50 days where high school students, especially those in higher-level AP classes (which the district prides itself on) have not been receiving the type of high-quality instruction necessary to get them ready for college, and in a more short-term perspective, their AP tests, which could potentially save them time and money in college and allow them to go straight into the courses that are in their main line of study, as opposed to taking general ed classes.

Meanwhile, guys like this are being left in control, as opposed to teachers who are trained and, as someone who went through the system, are damn good at their job.

Now, before this gets to where it's going to get to, let me just say that when this started, I really wanted to be on the side of the teachers. Really, I did. As a fellow teacher, and a biased blogger, I feel that teachers are generally very under appreciated in society today. People in the US like to complain about the quality of teachers, lack of difficulty to enter the profession and our low test scores compared to other industrialized nations, but no one wants to realize why that is the case. If you look at other countries that have top-notch education systems such as South Korea and Finland, you will find fundamental differences in the way that education is viewed. In these countries, teachers are valued along the same lines as doctors, and are paid like it, too. Teachers that go to Finland leave saying that the degree of respect and trust that are given to teachers is nothing like what they see in the US (source). Parents in these countries understand the value of school, from its academic to its moral purpose (source) and do not see it simply as a place where kids go while you're at work.

However, like doctors in this country, it is not easy to become a teacher in countries like South Korea and Finland. Before this gets any more off topic, the bottom line is that for education to change for the better in the United States, we need better teachers and we also need society to do a better job of giving teachers the benefit of the doubt. So, in short: respect teachers, pay them like you respect them, and then you'll see better applicants enter the field.

This is ultimately why I wanted to side with the Strongsville teachers. "Let's give them some respect!" I said. "Higher wages need to be our first step!" I said. "This is going to leave an incredibly positive impact on education for years to come," I said.

But then this happened.

This, too.

And this.

And this.

Teachers posted signs like the one below in the neighborhoods of substitute teachers who had come in to Strongsville City Schools during the strike.

Teacher behavior during the strike has even spurred on political cartoons like the one shown below.

Come onnnnnnnnn, you guys!

This was such a big moment! We were going to make such a big change with how education is viewed in society! All you had to do was shut up and let the public speak!!

Watch the first three minutes of the video, Strongsville teachers. Listen to the parent. She WANTED to trust you. She tried to trust you.

You blew it.

So now, I can't trust the teachers. I also can't trust the board, who has refused to make any sort of concessions in their proposal to get the teachers back in the classroom. However, this post isn't about the Board.

This is about the teachers of Strongsville, Ohio, who blew it. You blew it. YOU. BLEW. IT.

The subs are openly under-qualified for the subjects they are teaching. The board has always had a bad rep in Strongsville. Everything was looking up for the teachers. But then, as opposed to taking the high road and likely getting what they wanted in the end, Strongsville's teachers decided to go against the moral lessons they teach (explicitly or subliminally) every day that bullying is bad, we should be good to each other and that in times of adversity, violence in not the answer in any form.

To be fair, this does not represent every teacher in Strongsville. Actually, those teachers who are bullying the substitutes are in the vast minority compared to the teachers who are doing what the need to do by being quiet and letting the process play itself out.

Unfortunately, this is not what the public will remember. The public will remember the teachers who bullied the subs by cursing and yelling in their faces (literally) as subs came into the city to try to work.

I will too. I will remember these teachers more than the majority of teachers who were doing the right thing, and that really is a shame.

To the teachers who bullied and acted more immature than the students and continue to do so throughout this process: how can you legitimize yourself as an educator, or even as a person? How can you go to bed at night feeling that the decisions you've made that day are for the benefit of society? Namely, how does yelling and cursing at a human being who is trying to go in and teach children make you a good person? Sure, the subs aren't doing as good of a job as you probably think you could. But they're trying. That should, and does count for something. How can you expect children in your classroom to behave with class, maturity and respect for each other when you cannot model those things yourself? This next statement is coming from an educator and more importantly, a human being: you should be ashamed of yourself.

The whole situation is disgusting. While I never claimed that Strongsville was my favorite place in the world, I had a certain amount of respect for the place, and for the teachers that had given me an opportunity to go out into the world and pursue whatever career path that I'd like.

It has been incredibly disheartening to see many of these same people who I looked up to throughout the course of my youth turn around do exactly the things that they told me not to do. Hypocrisy at its finest.

 However, if there is a metaphoric diamond in the rough of all this, it is the students of Strongsville. I have read multiple articles like this one which detail the students' refusal to stoop to their teachers' level and continue to work hard in the face of all this.

The Strongsville teachers strike had an opportunity to become a huge win not only for the teachers of Strongsville, but for teachers everywhere. Instead, the events that have occurred in Strongsville in the past month and a half (and however longer they might continue to occur) will leave scars on the community for years or maybe even decades to come. It also puts a huge dent into the fight many teachers are facing here in the US for the respect and dignity that is necessary for higher levels of educational quality.

It is hard to imagine a scenario in which the teachers and BOE come out of this with any sort of respect from the community -- parents and children alike. The teachers in Strongsville have turned a golden opportunity into one of shame, and for that they cannot be forgiven.


Sincerely,
Brad DeFauw
Class of 2008