Here are two posts in a row, this one from the Stamford, CN paper, and the other one by Larry Elder, on a taboo subject. But until they are faced, we won't solve the education problem. I would bet that the Advocate reporter catches hell for this article from the black community
It seems that the greatest obstacle to the success of the No Child Left Behind program is often the students themselves. Here's a piece from Courtland Milloy, who's usually on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Larry Elder:
washingtonpost.com
Trip to London Is Boy's Reward And Respite
By Courtland Milloy
Post
Wednesday, April 27, 2005; B01
Irecently visited John V. Boyd, the 11-year-old geography and spelling bee champ from Southeast Washington who'll be in London this summer participating in an international student leadership program.
It was time to update a column I'd written in February about his efforts to sell houseplants to raise the $5,300 needed for the trip by the May 2 deadline. Thanks to the generosity of Washington area residents, John has reached his goal -- with a few days and a few bucks to spare.
His sources of support and encouragement include adults who admire his commitment to learning and children who see in him a role model for getting through tough times. A Tuskegee Airman has championed his cause, along with D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams.
I certainly expected to find him in good spirits. But he was not.
"If you were in my position, you'd hate life," he told me while tending to his plants -- the spider, purple passion and aloe that he grows and sells from a table set up on the sidewalk outside his home.
Asked what he meant, John said: "The fighting. They're still fighting me."
In the earlier column, I noted how some of his schoolmates at C.W. Harris Elementary School in Southeast seemed to resent him for doing well in school. "Most of the boys over there are tough and bulky, and some of them try to fight me because I carry books," John told me back then.
Those comments struck a nerve with some readers, especially schoolteachers who have seen the harm that bullies can do. They wrote letters to John encouraging him to persevere.
The bullies weren't so sympathetic. "They got mad at me for what I said in the paper," John recalled. "They said they weren't fighting me because they were bullies. They said they were fighting me because they just didn't like me."
The girls teased him, too, he said, for having the audacity to set his sights on a trip to London. "They'd say I was just fooling myself by thinking I could raise $5,000. They said nobody could raise that much money."
Of course, he did -- which seems to have created more jealousy.
"One of the bigger boys actually paid one of John's friends a dollar to punch him," said Marie Ellis, John's mother. "I thought that was so cruel. I asked his friend, or his supposed friend, 'How could you hit John?' Normally, he's so nice to him. And he says, 'They gave me a dollar.' It's so ignorant."
Meanwhile, Ellis says she hopes and prays that her son can find solace in caring for his plants. "Working with plants, he's learned to be gentle," she said. "It's also calming -- and profitable, and making money always seems to cheer him up."
In case that doesn't work, she holds on to a few of the more encouraging letters he's received, to be reread when he's in the dumps.
"So many people have written to say how proud of him they are," she said. "One woman wrote about how her own son used to have problems with kids picking on him but how he persevered, went on to college and is now a high ranking officer in the military."
John chimed in: "I liked the letter from the man who said it was okay to fight back." That brought a sigh from his mother.
"It said that even a peaceful man sometimes has to throw a punch to be heard," John continued.
Ellis shook her head, looking dejected. "I don't know how long that's going to continue," she said. "He came home with a black eye last week."
"But I punched back," he said, a wry smile on his face.
No doubt Ellis will be relieved come July, when John leaves for a 20-day visit to London and Scotland. He's participating in the People to People Student Ambassador Program, a leadership program started by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. During the trip, John is expected to visit the British Parliament, Oxford University, Buckingham Palace and Stonehenge, and he will take a tour of movie sites from the "Harry Potter" series.
May he return home refreshed and prepared for the challenges ahead. |
