In any given situation I often take a moment to step back and ask, “what would someone completely unfamiliar with situation think?” I asked myself this about Induction. What would someone think if they happened to pass by an Induction event? I came to the conclusion that someone really needs to make a reality TV show about Teach for America.
Self help seminar? Speed dating? Convention? Japanese game show? Who knows what people may have thought Induction was at glance. There we were, baby-faced, dressed in our father’s suits and our mother’s pearls on a mission: get a job, find a roommate. I probably met all 210 Houston Corps members 3…4? times. By the end of the three day first-impression endurance race I could name the majority of my colleges…if they were in their professional attire.
The constant meeting and greeting was broken up by seminars. We heard truly inspiring stories from teachers that had been where we once were. We heard statistics that break your heart an light a fire at the same time. One of the most profound speeches I heard was from Ann Best, a former teacher. She spoke with a grace and eloquence about the disparity in our nation. She put a name and a face on the task at hand. She was composed and raw at the same time. “We cannot afford to fail,” she said, “the cost of failure is too great.” I completely agree.
Induction was not all business and certainly not all serious. We shared laughs and competed in the TFAmazing Race where we ran around downtown Houston trying to collect various items or snap pictures. We ended the weekend with a bus ride to Galveston where we had a dinner and were entertained…by ourselves. In teams we composed and created chats that displayed our pride for Houston Corps 2011. Our were more like songs. My group took “This is why I’m hot” and turned it into “This is why I teach.” No one can out do the legendary Michael Jackson however, so in the end it was “Teach it! Teach it! The gap needs to be defeated!” (To Beat It)
No comments:
Post a Comment