If you Want Change, Make it Happen

I recently watched the movie, Teach Us All, on Netflix for one of my classes. It came out this year and it's about 80 minutes long, so a relatively short movie.

Teachusallfilm.org describes the movie as, "A documentary film + a social justice movement."

The synopsis, as posted on twomovies.tv, is: "On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis, educational inequality remains among the most urgent civil rights issues of our time. With its school district hanging in the balance following a state takeover in January 2015, Little Rock today presents a microcosm of the inequities and challenges manifesting in classrooms all across America. Through case studies in Little Rock, New York City, and Los Angeles, Teach Us All seeks to bring the critical lessons of history to bear on the current state of U.S. education and investigate: 60 years later, how far have we come-or not come-and how do we catalyze action from here?
Read more: https://twomovies.tv/watch_movie/Teach_Us_All

The answer is, we haven't come far at all since 1957. Yes, there is no visible segregation such as black and white schools like we had in the 40s and 50s. But, children in almost every school continue to be segregated by race, income, and language.

Do you want to hear some startling statistics?


"Poor children that can't read on grade level by the 3rd grade are 13x less likely to graduate high school."

"Kids that drop out are 4x more likely to go to prison."

"Los Angeles spends on average $223,600 to incarcerate a juvenile and only $9,000 a year educating a student."


These quotes are all from the movie. What are we doing wrong? These kids are NOT dropouts. They have been FAILED by our system. My heart aches for these kids who were never really given a chance at all. How can we be the United States of America when we are casting these children aside, saying their education doesn't matter as much as rich white kids? My dad was one of these kids. He was underprivileged, teachers hated him, and he went to jail at least once after dropping out or being expelled (he did get his GED when we was 16). He was one of those kids that bad teachers and the school system had failed. That's one of the biggest reasons why he wanted to homeschool us in the first place. He had no faith in the public school system.

Watch the movie for yourself. It doesn't matter what race you are, what background you come from, whether you homeschool your kids or go to public school or want to make a difference in society. It's so powerful, incredibly moving, and I cried while watching it. This movie isn't just for educators; it should be for all of society. If we want our society to change, it has to start in the schools. These kids are the next generation. These kids will lead the world. When we're gray or gone, what kind of world do we want them to lead?

One thing they did not talk about in the movie is disabilities, or kids with special needs. Students with special needs are also discriminated against. And the issue of special needs is a RACE issue too, believe it or not. Did you know that African-American children are twice as likely to be diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and emotional disturbance, than all other races? (This statistic is from my sped textbook). It's not because they are less smart or more emotional than children of other races...it's because we make school incredibly difficult for them, when many of them are coming from incredibly hard backgrounds already, and we make school easier for white kids, or kids with a lot of money and family time.

What can we do to change these numbers?

What can we do to make all children feel welcome and succeed at high rates, instead of just the white kids?

What can we do to insure that every child feels loved, cared for, and put into positions where they can learn and grow without being held back or fear that they aren't good enough?



I'm going to start by learning all I can, working with kids in any way I can, and sharing my opinions and what I'm learning in school, until someday when I can be a teacher myself and make an impact on my district, my city, and my kids.

Change is possible. But we have to be willing to try incredibly hard. Whether you're a teacher, parent, involved in schools, with kids, or not, you can help create change. You just have to believe that change can be created and that it starts by changing you.

Advocacy for a change in our schools (and our country), starts by becoming an advocate and desiring change. Standing up for what you believe is right. Calling attention to things you believe are wrong with the system. Participating in your district, talking to people, helping your kids with their homework when you can, raising kids that see our flawed society for what it is and desire to create change. If we want society to change, it has to start with our schools and where we're putting our money. I'm realizing that more than ever now.

Until next time.

H.L.W

What's in a Name?

A name is an identity, in some way. It's who we are. Names can change; identities can change. But I thought I would make a post talking about my name. One of my instructors this quarter had my cohort do a presentation at the beginning about what our name meant, the history behind it, or however we wanted to go about it. He gave us a lot of freedom, which I appreciated because I like to do what I want. ;)

I talked about why I was named Holly Lynn Wisniew. One of my classmates didn't have a particularly good story about why she was named, so she decided to do her presentation on other names she's called. I thought I would throw a little of that in here also, because I go by lots of names, especially at work.

HOLLY

I was born November 11th, so within the holiday season, and a family friend suggested that since I would be born around Christmas my name should be Holly. That's where that comes from. It's a winter plant, and no profound meaning.

LYNN

My middle name is really special to me. My parents didn't care about the name Lynn or what it meant. However, my grandpa, my dad's dad, who passed before my parents even met, was named Leonard. Everyone called him Len. My dad's middle name is Leonard, and so is my cousin's. They wanted to give their first child a middle name that represented this. If I had been a boy, my middle name would've been Leonard. But since I'm not, they chose something similar enough. Lynn means "beside still water" or something like that. Leonard means "lion-hearted".

WISNIEW

Wisniew is a Polish name that was originally, "Wisniewski", pronounced with v's and not the way it looks, at all. It means cherry. I love my last name because it unifies me with my close and extended family. I'm a Wisniew. I love last names. They signify belonging, and family.

OTHER NAMES I'M CALLED

Hollybejolly

Holls


Hollsballs

Bjolly/bjolls

Hollsbejolls


Holliba

The bunny girl

At home, I'm only called Holly or Holliba (by my dad; don't ask). Hollybejolly was my baby nickname started by my aunt, again because I was born around Christmas, and I told someone at work my "nickname" and variants have spiraled out from there. And the bunny girl, because, well....that's me. Everyone calls me something different, but I love it because it's unique, and each name means something different to each person. Each name comes from a bond we share and I think that's so cool.

Comment down below what your name means and your most-used nickname. Let's talk about it!

Thanks for reading. See you on Saturday, right here! My next post is going to be a little controversial, possibly...subscribe so you don't miss out!

H.L.W.

Where I've Been

Life has been busy. If you can't tell, I abandoned this blog...and I'm pretty sure I said that in my last post too. It's literally been almost a year since I've posted (if you haven't noticed). I haven't made a post since I've been 18. I'm almost 19. So why am I posting now?

I wanted to update on where life has taken me since I posted my 7 goals for my 18th year, and where I'm at in life now. I want to have a spot to vent my frustrations, share my passions, and talk about my new journey becoming an elementary school teacher.

To be fair, I have been writing...I have at least 10 drafts I've wrote over the past year and just never posted (I don't know why). Most of them are gutsy ramblings I never really intended to share, but to be honest, if no one reads these posts, I won't mind to much. I want a place where I can be honest with myself. And if someone finds this blog and follows along, that's okay too.

I do keep a journal, but that's different. I don't know how, but it just is. Handwriting can get tiring after long nights of pulling shots and taking notes. But typing is not.

So let's just get started on where I am now. What life has been like in the past 11 months since I've been absent.

I haven't mentioned it on this blog yet, but back at the end of August, we introduced a puppy to our family and so now we have a dog too. He's a chocolate lab and let's just say he's the 6th kid.

I turned 18. I guess that's kinda a big deal. I still haven't registered to vote, but I plan on doing that before I turn 19 (I hope!).

In November, the week after I turned 18, I applied for a job at Dutch Bros here in Everett and I've been working there for almost a year now. I love being a barista, but the atmosphere at DB is why I stay.

A week after I started training at DB, I got my braces off. That was one of the highlights of my year for sure!!

In June, I graduated from Everett Community College, with High Distinction and my associate's in Elementary Education.


At the end of June, through the very beginning of July, I spent a week at Lakeside Bible Camp for a Sr. Girls (ages 10-13) summer camp. It was amazing and I grew so much in this time.

At the end of July, I received the letter that told me I had been accepted to the only college program I applied for - Western Washington's Woodring program at their Everett Community College campus. Also in July, I got my bunny shed in full working order.

In August, my family did VBS at our church and I was a skit actor and a helper in the 2nd-3rd grade class.

In September, I got my driver's permit and now I'm roaming the streets. Look out world!

And that leaves us at this present moment. It's coming up on my 5th week at the WWU program and I'm enjoying it so much. My cohort is amazing, homework is not overwhelming yet, and my instructors are very effective and fun. I'm especially excited that I paid out of pocket for my first quarter at a real school. It was relatively inexpensive (compared to Western in Bellingham for the same program), which is so nice since my parents can't help me out and I haven't found good scholarships yet. I feel so incredibly blessed to have a job that is flexible around my school schedule, but can still give me enough hours to go to school. I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to raise rabbits because the income I get from that hobby helps as well. My hope for these next 3 years as I go through school is to not take out any student loans; and to pay out-of-pocket as much as possible. I will not have to pay for the next quarter until January and already I have almost everything I will need!

Although life has been crazy, I want to find time to blog here. I want to share what I'm learning in school and how God is working in my life, and what He's teaching me, as I'm becoming a real adult. I hope to share a post weekly, but let's see if I can stay that consistent.

Until next time,

Holly L. W.