A Fight Worth Fighting: Use Your Skills to Address Systemic Racism

by Vernita Mayfield

“There’s a fight in the girl’s bathroom!” As a middle school administrator, I knew all too well the urgency of this frantic call.  I dropped the basketball mid-game and raced toward the restroom. The assistant principal, already on the scene when I arrived, had the situation well under control with both girls spraddled, tearful, and breathless on opposite ends of the bathroom. I breathed a sigh of relief. A squabble over “talking stuff” had somehow escalated to a physical altercation that could have resulted in serious harm to one or both fighters as one of the participants wielded faux fingernails sharpened like blades. But the assistant principal had used her professional skills, personal relationships with the students, and “teacher voice” to dismantle and deescalate an otherwise volatile situation. More to the point, absolutely no one was shot or killed in the process. This conflict was deescalated without a single weapon discharged—an outcome that happens in schools across the nation.

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Gift-Giving: Students Tackling Real-World Problems

When I think of the holidays, my mind wanders to gift giving. Red ribbon. Bows. Metallic wrapping paper. However, the greatest gifts are not those you hold, but those that are felt in the heart. You and I have the opportunity to give a powerful gift to the students we teach. Purpose. To give them a sense of feeling needed and a chance to give back to the world. All people long for purpose. Purpose motivates us and pushes us to go further and do more. People spend their lives searching for it. Just as my students were searching for it, in the lessons I taught. 

“Why should I learn this?” “When am I ever going to use it?” “How is this information important for my life?” Students would ask these questions year after year in my classroom. They longed to see how our content connected to the world. 

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