A second chance this year

    Another Awards Night. Another opportunity to celebrate not only academic performance but also citizenship and character. Ever since I've become a teacher, I have grown to appreciate Awards Night more each year. Especially when I see the impact it has on kids. Especially upon my niche population.

    When I was in college, I took the advice of one of the assistant principals I knew from my bus route. Upon her recommendation, I pursued a degree as a 4th-8th grade Generalist. Able to teach English, math, science, or social studies in junior high or higher elementary. I also got my ESL (English as a Second Language) certification simultaneously.  In Texas, at least 20% of students have a primary language other than English, and ESL certification is preferred now and will be mandatory in the future.

    I designed my certifications to hedge my bets and make myself a more desirable candidate. But I did not really expect to end up as a English teacher--I actually preferred to teach math. But when I graduated, at the end of the fall semester, in the middle of a contract year, there were no jobs at all open in the district. 

    Of course not...since teachers work on annual contracts. So I took substitute jobs, finally working my way into a long-term sub position as an ESL English teacher. At the end of the year, my experience got me an interview and a full-time position for the next year at another campus in the district. 

    Where I still am today, 8 years later. I still teach English--to Newcomers, who are students with no English or very little English, who have been in the country a year or less. I also teach Texas History, and this year I taught a unit of English to general education 6th graders. 

    Which brings me back around to Awards Night. Since most of my students are not very visible in the general population, the honor and attention they receive in front of their entire class is a significant milestone. While many students don't attend the ceremony--conflicts with other activities, mostly--it is rare for my students to miss it. They show up---usually with their entire families. Taking pictures. Beaming. Shaking hands all around.

    So that is why I was a bit perplexed when my first two awarded students were no-shows. 6th grade twin boys from Egypt, with the work ethic of honeybees and the manic energy of squirrels, who had proudly told me they would be at the ceremony just that morning. So I called their names at the podium, scanned the audience fruitlessly, then sleeved their certificates for delivery later. Sat back down as other teachers announced their awards. By dint of tradition, English goes first at Awards Night, so I settled in for the rest of the content areas.

    Five minutes later, they entered. The twins along with their parents and younger siblings. They caught my eye, waved, wandered to the back of the room rather than the reserved-for-honorees rows near the stage. I had prepped my awardees that day on the procedure--where to sit in the audience, the hand-off/handshake protocol, where to stand on the stage until the end of the awards to let proud parents approach and take photos--but, oh well, kids forget. Came in late. Missed their awards. Forgot where to sit and what to do.

    So I did what any teacher should do. 

    I got up and slid down the side aisle, hissed their names so only they could hear. I took them to the second row and found them seats, told them to listen for their names to be called.

    Then I got back in line. Behind science. The last content area to be awarded. True, the old rule of presentations is You Must Be Present To Win. If we stopped and started ceremonies as latecomers arrived, it would cause delays. Chaos. But....

     Traffic happens. Parking issues happen. All these things are out of control of students, the very people being recognized. What could be more disheartening for an 11-year-old than to come in five minutes late and miss the opportunity of glory?

    So of course they deserved a second chance. Deserved to be called to the stage, to shake the Principal's hand, to stand under the glaring stage lights and have their delighted father take picture after picture. Yeah, it took an additional 30 seconds of time for me to loop back around and call them again, but that was 30 seconds they will long remember. That is a bargain.