A new teacher commits to all of his students but risks all for only one.
Fifth Grade teacher, Dick Hammer, feels a profound connection with one of his students. Danilee Kindle is bright, willful, and needy. “A potent mix.” The more time he spends with the abandoned girl, and the closer they get, the more scrutiny and disapproval Dick feels from his colleagues, his principal, and his wife.
As a forty-seven-year-old, first-year teacher, Dick staggers at the need he finds behind the gates at Cherry Blossom Elementary. He commits himself to educating, nurturing, and protecting every child. When a sexual molester and a murderer enter the sphere of the classroom, Dick rushes his star pupil from danger. He heads toward the border, crossing a line from which he can never return.
Excerpt
…Dirck turned in his seat to face her. “Tell me, Jules, what are we supposed to do with all these children? I have thirty three kids in that room and every one of them seems to live in a world of hurt.”
Julia patted his hand. “You have a big heart, Sweetie. And you’ve said it all.”
“What, that they live in pain?”
“More the mere fact that you’ve opened your heart to it. Stay in that place and everything you’re capable of doing for them will come to light.”
He looked into her soft amber eyes.
“We have to take full responsibility for these children as human beings,” she continued. “Even if their parents can’t.”
“It’s a veritable black hole.”
“What more can we do than try? Compassion is about turning to face the suffering, hearing the cries.” She took his hand between her soft palms. “To be there with them through everything they’re dealing with. For them to know that we’re there, no matter what.”
He lost himself in the coronas of crimson around her pupils.
Julia moved her glance to the seat in front of her, as a large man dropped into it. “If educate literally means `to bring out,’ she said, “that implies that every child has innate intelligence and wisdom. We have to create the environment for that to blossom. The major ingredient in that is our relationship with them. We have to bond with each person, build trust, cultivate curiosity, a love of learning, respect.”
“Where did you come up with this? It rather mystical.”
“I went to the Oak Ridge School. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. In Mira Monte, in the Conejo Valley. It’s the education that I experienced as a child.”
“I can see how it might be possible in a small private school, but it is hard to do with so many students, in this climate of test scores, standardized learning, conformity and diversity, competition, and total faith in data. Data, data, data. That seems to be all that LaVonda Washington cares about.”
“That’s her job. Ours is something different. And ours is the highest calling.”
Dirck took a deep breath and exhaled, letting his shoulders relax.
Julia touched his forearm. “All this talk about extending the school year and merit pay for teachers,” she said, “I suppose the politicians and administrators have to come up with quantitative ways to measure education and ideas for improvements for their constituents, but the fact is that no one except teachers know what happens in a classroom, day to day. You close that door, and virtually no one ever comes in. No one spends any real time with you and the children. And the obstacles you guys face, with all the different levels of student ability, the learning problems, the language learners, the transiency of families, the emotional and psychological stuff that kids face, and on and on. They are even cutting funds to programs for severely disabled and for those children with serious emotional and mental problems. They call it ‘mainstreaming.’ Sounds like something out of the transportation industry, doesn’t it? But the point is, it’s all coming into the classroom for the underpaid, under-resourced, under-appreciated classroom teacher to deal with.”
“You’re right. The odds are basically impossible. And no one really knows what to do about it.”
“There is a lot of lip service in this country about the care and well-being of children, but very little true concern or action.” Julia sat back in her seat. “Probably it’s because education doesn’t make anyone money, not directly. If it did, you’d see mass investment pouring in.”
Professional Reviews
Great Job!!!!!
I read this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a teacher, I could relate to most of the issues that covered in the book. The ending took me by surprise (the incidents with Sanjul and Danilee but I feel the book will give the public audience a chance to see a day in the life of a teacher of a low-income school environment and what he faces in his working environment. They will see what the teacher faces from his students, their parents, his co-workers, and his principal and other school administrators. The book showed how a dedicated teacher tries to help his students academically and their home issues and problems. Great job!!!!!
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