*The views expressed in this entry are personal and in no way reflect those of City Year or AmeriCorps.*

A public education in a tiny New Jersey middle-class town really blinds you to the terrible injustices of the American education system.  Up until about a month ago, actually, I remained pretty naive to the how misplaced the priorities are of those running our education system.

My students spend their school days confined to the basement of the school that provides neither the resources nor the opportunities for these kids to reach their full potential.  It was only 3 weeks ago that these students had 7 teachers, normal sized class, and some element of stability in their education.  Because of lack of funding, or lack of communication, or just plain misplacement of priorities, they are now left with 4 teachers and classes of 86 kids for almost half of their day.  It is completely impossible for one teacher to have a lesson prepared and taught to 86 kids in one classroom.  The teachers don't have the materials and the students don't have the attention span.  The class period becomes 100 minutes of watching a movie, copying mindless notes off of a powerpoint, or breaking up fights.

As hard as we fight to get these students to come to school everyday, why would they come to school to sit in a crowded room watching movies and getting screamed out for half of the day?  What is happening at my school is a regression back to the days of one room school-houses.  All skill levels shoved into one room for a long period of time and told to get a proper education.   

As my students sit in math class watching a movie about race cars and painting their nails, the powers-that-be sit in their comfy chairs and pass along memos telling the administration and teachers of my school to suck it up.  I can't bring myself to understand how a problem this big could just be ignored and brushed aside.  Not only is it completely defeating the purpose of schooling and education, but it's also wildly illegal to have that many students in one room with one teacher.  

How can a system that has made a name out of educational reform ignore what's going on in this school?  If this situation is at the very bottom on their list of priorities, I can't even begin to imagine what's at the top of that list.  That just opens my eyes to how corrupt and politicized the education system has become. At what point did we lose sight of the actual goal of education?  How did the kids get lost in all of this?  

I wish I had the answers to these questions and so many more, but I don't.  As I've helplessly stood by and watched this situation unfold and tear apart the school days of my students, I've realized just how passionate I am about education reform and service.  This one instance shone a spotlight on this one problem in this one city.  It's just a drop in the bucket.  The education system is crumbling all over.  There are so many social injustices and problems in this country and in this world.  I obviously can't tackle all of them, but the idea of devoting my career and life to service in the future is more and more appealing by the day. I can't think of anything more rewarding.

I'm only 4 months into a year of full-time service and I've already begun to feel more empowered, civic minded, and responsible than I ever have before.  Everyone has a civic duty to national service.  I'm not saying that every American has to perform a year of full-time service.  I'm saying that every American is capable of spending the day at a food bank, a homeless shelter, a Habitat build.  If every American took one day to devote to service think of the possibilities.  There's a Martin Luther King Jr quote that City Year uses a lot that I think sums up what I'm saying- "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve."  You don't need a college degree or an open checkbook to enact change.  You need a few hours and an open mind.  

I know that not many people read this blog, but I hope that my words (or MLK's) got through to someone enough to make them pencil a day of service into their planner in between the meetings and the appointments.  

Where to begin...

I've been in New Orleans for about 4 months now and I have not been documenting my experience at all.  I really like the idea of trying to start a blog.  Not only will it give me a chance to reflect on this awesome City Year experience, but I'll be able to share this experience with my family and friends.  

It would be impossible to recap everything that has happened since I moved to NOLA, so I'll just start from this weekend and try to keep up from now on.  I went back to high school dances and football games this weekend for the John McDonogh High School Homecoming activities. It was such a good time to see the kids outside of the classroom and the uniform.  

Pictures are worth a million words (especially in New Orleans) so I'll let my pictures speak for themselves.  No words or pictures can begin to describe the amazing experience that I'm having.  John McDonogh HS, City Year, and New Orleans have stolen my heart.  Enjoy the glimpse into my crazy new world! 

This is the freshman academy hallway of John McDonogh High.  I spend about 50 hours a week here.  Doesn't it look lovely?

My teammates and I were asked to chaperone the Homecoming Dance and it was beyond awesome.  We had such a good time, although the kids were far from impressed by our dancing skills.  I even got to pretend to be on the homecoming court while I held the flowers and purse of one of my students.  A girl can dream, right?!

Halloween day was also JMcD's Homecoming.  The day started with a parade from the high school to the stadium where the game was.  Walking through the streets of New Orleans with a bunch of high school students spinning flags and playing drums was way too much fun.  I didn't get to see the whole football game but the boys looked so great and I can't wait to find out if they won!

A Halloween in New Orleans is very difficult to put into words, so I'll just post a few pictures and hope that they speak loud enough.