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A shoebox find of some early writings for a public audience.
It’s crunch time this week as I prepare to hit the road for Nova Scotia next Sunday. Between now and then, all I have to do is finish getting our house in Saint Peter cleared out and host a Board of Trustees meeting on campus.
Piece of cake or fake it till you make it? That’s for me to know, but I’m drinking a lot of caffeine.
As I was packing this weekend, I came across a shoebox of memories from high school—old report cards (good at English and history, bad at math), assignments, and some newspaper clippings.
It’d been a long time since I thought about my stint as a student columnist for the local newspaper back when I was a high school senior.
Unfortunately, the Farmington Independent has since fallen to the same fate as thousands of other local newspapers across the country over the last 20 years. It’s really too bad, because robust local news would come in handy these days. “Local” is where community is built. And it’s hard to hate your neighbor if you know them as a person. But local news wasn’t worth the money to whoever counted the beans, I guess. Not enough ROI. So here we are with an entirely different set of “news” options.
I digress.
Today, I would approach some of my editorial decisions differently. And boy, check out that mug shot.
Anyway, it being a busy week and all, here’s one of those columns:
1/11/07
As a part of the curriculum at Farmington High School, juniors and seniors are given the opportunity to take part in a class known as service learning. Service learning places students in a non-traditional learning environment in which the student assists others to learn lessons about human nature and life instead of arithmetic of history. Many students assist teachers throughout the school district, grading papers, tutoring students and providing a helping hand. Other placements include helping at the Trinity Care Center or organizing artifacts at Dakota City Heritage Village. After weighing my options, I decided to work with my former fourth grade teacher, Tom Murphy.
I didn’t know exactly what to expect when I first started going to Mr. Murphy’s class, but I soon fell into a rhythm that seems to work well for him, me, and the students in the class. On a typical day, I’ll arrive a few minutes after his math class begins and get to work grading any papers that he has for me. After that comes my favorite part of the day. I get to cruise around the room visiting with kids and helping with math.
I think the students today are still a lot like we were eight years ago. There are hyper kids, smart kids, quiet kids, and class clowns. Every day I look forward to their good-natured teasing about high school, how I’m ‘weird,’ and the time I fumbled the football in a game against Rochester John Marshall… Yes, the fourth graders have long memories.
Anyway, it has been quite an education these last six months or so, as I learn more about them. One difference I notice is in the technology that is available. I’ve seen a couple of fourth graders with cell phones. Digital cameras and iPods seemed to be popular gifts for Christmas. Beyond that, the differences seem to be negligible. Maybe that’s how it always is. Kids are giddy and don’t take everything seriously, but for the most part they know when to quit and buckle down to the task at hand. Surprisingly to me, it appears that everyone gets along. I don’t see cliques or bullying, although perhaps I view their world through rose-colored glasses. Theirs is a life of academics and recess, tag and homework, but not the oppressive kind that will be piled on them in a few short years. If I could tell them one thing it would be to enjoy it. Enjoy the friendships, the teachers, the outdoors, the bus rides. Because although youngsters long to be older, I’ve decided that it’s just not the same. Sure, I can drive to school and go on dates on Saturday night, but I wouldn’t mind the chance to forget once in awhile and just play on the swings before heading in and listening to Mr. Murphy read aloud to the class.
Go Tigers!
JJ Akin is a senior at Farmington High School. His column appears every other week.
The voice of the older JJ can be heard in the younger. Nice work!