Journey to Excellence

Today is Dawson's last day in public school. I am sure it is as surreal for him as it is for me.

Not only will it be great to teach Dawson next year, but it will also be nice to have him around during times like this ..... Thank God he was here to slay the beast. And I didn't even pass out when I saw it.

While at a doctor's appointment yesterday, I read an article about the alarmingly high level of high school dropouts. Amazingly, the major reason was not bad grades or bad behavior. The main reason the kids were dropping out of school was because the kids felt like they weren't learning anything of value to their real lives and that the teachers and administration didn't care about them. Many of the kids said that not one teacher knew his/her name. Most kids said that not one person at school took the time to know their interests, strengths or weaknesses. Almost every kid interviewed said that their favorite days at school were when teachers would take the time to apply their lessons to real-life situations, and that it happened very rarely. These happen to be my biggest complaints about Dawson attending public school. I always had the worry of him not wanting to further his education after high school. But the thought of him actually dropping out never occurred to me. Now ...

We talked this weekend about what he wants to do "when he grows up." He said that he wants to teach art to special needs kids, primarily Spanish speaking. Now we have something to work toward ... teaching skills, art, Spanish. I can do that.

This week Dawson has been expressing some sadness about not seeing his friends at school every day next year. I assured him that we would do what we could to keep him involved with his friends. I was actually feeling bad for him. But, I'll be honest. I don't know his friends very well. He doesn't spend any time with them outside of school. He really only hangs out with two brothers that live in our neighborhood. This week I found some notes a girl on his bus had written him. They were filled with curse words. She even gave him a drawing of something not appropriate. I have noticed lately that his language and morals seem to be changing into something I am not happy to see. He apparently gets sent to the hall to do his school work in at least one class and routinely gets "called out" on the bus as being the instigator of trouble. He denies that it's him. However, whenever there is trouble at home he typically denies that it is him, as well. I can't say I be...