Introduction
“Peters, you should write a book to encourage people who are having a tough time so they can know that they can not only survive but thrive in the face of adversity!” So says my friend and colleague Marcia Campbell. In the last sixteen years that we have worked together Marcia and I have had discussion after discussion about what we could do for the children and teachers. So often the Interns and the young teachers feel that they are responsible for the meat grinder that exists in their classroom. We teachers exist in a vacuum, we have little interaction with teachers outside our school as a result we often feel that our problems are unique to our classroom.
The reality is that the problem of lower socio-economic minority inner city students is endemic in the United States. Students suffering retention, students dropping out of school. What makes me worthy to address these issues? Well, I was raised by dysfunctional parents who came from dysfunctional families themselves. I was retained in the fifth grade and dropped out of school in the ninth grade. I finally did get my General Equivalency Diploma (GED) when I was in my early twenties. That got me into trade school where I apprenticed as a carpenter. I spent the next twenty years working at my trade until a series of health issues forced me to seek other employment. One of the things that had prevented me from seeking a college education was the fact that with all I had missed in school I was only semi-literate. I read very well and had an excellent vocabulary but I could not write.
I really didn’t know much about higher education but I did know that writing was necessary and indeed essential to be successful in school. Suffice it to say that I did go to college and I did graduate 3 months shy of my 50th birthday with a degree in Education with a major in Special Education. I have worked as a Special Educator for the Duval County School system since the 1993-94 school year. When I speak on issues I have the empirical experience that comes with being the oldest sibling for over 50 years, a husband for over 45 years, a dad for over 40, a grandfather for over 16 years. In my professional life I have been a sawyer, a bench carpenter, a shop foreman, a Vocational Instructor, a general manager and a small business owner. Aristotle said that “the unexamined life is not worth living”, I would like to think that I have spent a goodly portion of my life examining my surroundings and I think that this is a good time for me to begin commenting on what I have learned.