We can't ignore this problem.

As educators, we encounter a lot of difficult situations. We interact with a large group of children every day, and unfortunately, a lot of kids have pretty difficult lives. I work with kids in foster care, kids whose mom or dad is in jail, kids whose mom or dad (or both) live in a different country. These kids are not carefree, not in the slightest.
Recently I learned that one of my students was removed from his home because his parent was hitting him. He now lives with his grandparents, who live almost an hour away. They have worked it out so he can stay at our school for the rest of the year - his life is already disrupted enough without having to start a new school in May.


I simply cannot comprehend hitting a child. 


I wish I had something profound to say, but that's it. I simply cannot understand it.


According to many news outlets, including CBS, child abuse has been on the rise in the past few years, due to the recession. Parents are stressed out, out of work, and take their frustration out on their children, and additionally funding for abuse prevention and counseling services is being cut.


Want to really feel sick? read the Child Welfare Information Gateway's 2009 report on Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalaties. According to the report, 

"The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,530 child fatalities in 2006. This translates to a rate of 2.04 children per 100,000 children in the general population. NCANDS defines “child fatality” as the death of a child caused by an injury resulting from abuse or neglect, or where abuse or neglect was a contributing factor."

Childhelp.org has some statistics that bring tears to my eyes, not the least of which is the graph showing child deaths due to abuse or neglect per day. The number has gone from just above 3 per day in 1998 to almost 5 deaths a day in 2006. Five children died, on average, every day in 2006. More than 3 out of 4 were under the age of 4.

This is not something that is unique to the community I am working in. We can't say "well, Rosie, you work in a "bad" school in a "tough" neighborhood." No. Child abuse occurs in all cities, in all socioeconomic groups, and within all ethnicities. Just because this is the first time I've been confronted with the reality doesn't mean I haven't worked with other kids who have been hurt by people who are supposed to protect and care for them.

These are our babies. Our children. And instead of protecting them, we are cutting programs to prevent abuse. Child Protection Services across the country are understaffed and dealing with higher caseloads.

I can't be eloquent right now, I just need someone to explain to me what makes it ok to ignore this problem.

Calculators at the Grocery Store

Today, I was looking for cooking inspiration on one of my all-time favorite blogs,  Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef. I went back and read Shauna's entry about when she and her family did the United Way Hunger Action Week in January. I wrote about it then, and I'm bringing it up again, because there are good lessons to be learned here. Good lessons that I still need to learn, probably.
I may have mentioned that I ran out of food stamps two weeks before they were set to be renewed. So, for the past week and half, I have been doing two things I hate to do: Buying non-organic fruits and vegetables, and using my "for fun" money to do it.
Clearly, I am still working on this eating for $200 a month thing. I make excuses that it's because I am on a special diet, and need to buy gluten-free foods, but if Shauna and her family can do it, then so can I.
My food stamps get reloaded on Thursday, and I'm going to start taking a calculator to the grocery store. I am allowed to spend no more than $50 a week. I'm going to start planning my meals in advance so I don't go to the store, hungry, at 5:30pm.
My wonderful Grandma sent me an Amazon gift card for my birthday, so I am stocked up on Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Whole Grain Bread Mix, and an exciting assortment of gluten-free flours. I am taking a baking class tonight at my awesome local Community Food Co-Op. So, even though I made the awesome discovery of gluten free bagels this week, I probably won't be buying any. The Bellingham Farmer's Market (recently voted Best in the Northwest!) is open, so I will be getting awesome local spring veggies every Saturday. I planted lettuce seeds and they are starting to sprout - although it will be a while still before I can harvest salad greens right from my porch. This summer I will be helping out at our school garden, which hopefully means fresh produce for me!
I can do this. I don't need frozen pizzas or meat more than once a week. I can make hummus and salsa. I can find recipes and plan meals in advance. I can eat healthy and enjoyable meals on a budget. It's all about the beauty of simplicity, right?

Finding Balance

It seems that in the past month, I have been doing a lot of serving and not quite enough surviving. I've been extremely sick twice, finally using up all of my sick days - this is not good, as there are about 2 and a half months of school left. I haven't been exercising, I haven't been sleeping, and, worst of all, I haven't been blogging. These three things are probably the most beneficial things I can do for my self, for my my mental and physical health  and by neglecting them I have been neglecting personal sanity. Not good.
March seemed to go by in a blur of motion and noise. March 2nd was Read Across America Day, in celebration of Dr. Seuss's Birthday. My awesome team of Alderwood WRC members spearheaded an effort to have a combined, three-school event. We recruited the other two Bellingham teams back in October, and had slowly been working on the event since then. We contacted the Mayor Pike and Sherrif Elfo, asking them to read their favorite Dr. Seuss books at the event. We got donations from several local businesses. We sent out press releases to local media. And on March 2nd, it finally all came together. The turnout for Alderwood was great; we had over 200 people show up. The other two schools didn't have quite as much luck, but we hope that this is just the beginning and the three Bellingham schools with WRC programs will continue to host events like this.
Also on March 2nd I was told that I was not selected for an interview for Teach For America. I was bummed, but I am excited to find some other opportunities, closer to home.
March also saw the final stages of our school garden planning, and on the 27th, a work party of staff, students, and families showed up to make those plans into a real garden. Thanks to a Starbucks grant, we got money for every volunteer that showed up. Money to spend on soil, seeds, and worms! I wasn't there, but I hear it was awesome, and I got to spend most of last Friday in the garden, and am very excited about the future of it.
Why wasn't I at the garden party on the 27th, you ask? Well, I was up at the crack of dawn to drive my Girl Scout Troop to Seattle. We (along with Jenn, another awesome AmeriCorps member), trekked to The Univeristy of Washington and Seattle University to tour the campuses. When you have a troop of teenage girls, you get to do the fun stuff. We had an awesome time, and talked a lot about the girls' plans for their futures. We also talked about everything from boys to the health care bill. It's nice to know that there are teenagers out there that I can relate to and have great conversations with. I feel really lucky to have gotten hooked up with this troop. Jenn and I are trying to convince them to go camping this summer, they so far are not very excited about "sleeping in the dirt." (Crazy, right?)
The day after our college tours, I got sick. Sicker than I have been in a very long time, and sicker than I ever want to be again. The kind of sick that makes you lose ten pounds. That put me out of commission for several days. When I returned to school, several of my students told me how they or their siblings had "puked a lot" that weekend. Thanks, guys.
Luckily, I recovered soon enough to celebrate my birthday. Yes, as of last week I am over a quarter of a century. I celebrated with my friends at trivia night, then dancing, then karaoke the following night, and then celebrating with my Seattle friends on Saturday night. I'm a big supporter of Birthday Week.
Now it's Spring Break, and I am relaxing on the beach. The fifty-degree, windy, stormy, San Juan Islands beach. I'm also applying for jobs and working on a drama program to present to the fifth grade teachers at my school. Hopefully this week allows me the time to relax and remember why it's important to both Serve AND Survive.

Lessons

Sometimes I think ADD is contagious.
I spend all day with these kids who can't pay attention to what they are doing, who can't sit still for two seconds, and when I get home I discover that I'm in the same state. I go to yoga and the whole time I think about stuff. Things of no importance, or things I have no control over at this moment. What I might say to the Teach For America interviewer. Where I might live next year - not what city but specifically what I want my apartment to look like. What kind of thing I might cook for breakfast if I had the time. Whether or not my co-workers like me. And then I remember I am supposed to be focusing on yoga and my breathing. Then the cycle repeats.
So, at least I have sympathy for my students. If I can't be still then how can I expect them to be?
The the same thing goes for interrupting. I hate it when people interrupt me, and I daily tell my students that it is rude. However, I find myself doing it all the time when I am talking with my friends, co-workers, and family. It's a habit I am trying to break myself of, because it is rude. It's like saying "what I have to say is more important than what you have to say," which is just another way of saying "I am more important than you," which I (usually) don't believe.
And again, if I can't stop interrupting, isn't it hypocritical of me to expect them to be quiet while I am talking?

Remember how I said I was feeling burnt-out? Well, last night I slept for over twelve hours. I fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie, woke up at about 9, brushed my teeth, went to bed, and didn't get up until 9:30 this morning. I think my body is trying to tell me something. Perhaps "don't stay up past midnight and then go to yoga the next morning at 8."
 It's pretty amazing how good one feels after twelve hours of sleep. And since I went to bed fairly early I have had all day to get things done. Maybe my mom was on to something when she wanted me to go to bed early as a kid. Just maybe.