landmarks and other things

While browsing through headlines in today’s Examiner, I came across one, in particular, that made me smile. “City College Honored as Official Landmark”, it proclaimed, with a picture of what the column cites as, “the castle on the hill.” Though the article is short, and really just focuses on the fact that the building is now, officially, a historic landmark, I found it symbolic, landmark if you will, of my growth during this experience with BCPSS. (I say symbol, here, not analogy. Very tricky.)

My very first trip to Baltimore was for the June job-fair in 2005. I had taught for seven hours that Friday, hopped in my car, and made the normally eight hour—but due to traffic on the George Washington Bridge and Jersey Turnpike turned into eleven hour—trek from Cape Cod to the luxurious Radisson at Cross Keyes only to find out, at 1 a.m., that my room was not available until Saturday night. At which point I was sent, exhausted, hungry, and soaking wet (for dramatic effect solely—though I do think it rained during my ride at some point), to a Holiday Inn forty-five minutes out of town. There I paid the front desk $110 for the only room, the penthouse suite, to rest my head for four hours.
I was going to the BCPSS job-fair in the morning. How very exciting.

Half asleep, awkwardly dressed in a new suit and heels, I stumbled up to City College’s table like a ten-year-old girl at a basketball banquet, donned in her older sister’s hand-me-downs and unaware. Shoulder pads, disheveled hair, no make up, frightened expression, silently rehearsing “don’t trip, don’t trip, …” while desperately trying to walk steady in uncomfortable shoes. I reached out my hand, introduced myself, and handed the then department head my resume. And after a brief “you outta be in movies, kid” sort of exchange, I was hired on the spot.
First interview. Done.

Excited to check into my actual hotel room and get some more sleep, I brought my papers to the TFA table, packed up my things, and got ready to go. That is, after I interviewed with a different school because apparently City College didn’t “need” me. So fine, I stumble up to the next available table without a line, Harbor City High School. And in a used-car salesman type pitch, I was, again, hired on the spot.
Second interview. Done.

Think: I chose the path less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.

About two weeks into my first year at Harbor City I began to resent City College and all that it stood for. I’d drive past it on my way home from the grocery store and scowl. Or I’d be stuck in traffic on 33rd and stare up at it’s majestic stone walls with ivy climbing them and think “now that’s a real school.” I’d even dream, some nights, of walking through the halls wearing a plaid coat with leather elbows, listening to students recite Robert Frost and wake up smiling. And bitter. I was so convinced early on that my struggles were simply because I was at the “wrong” school. That if I could just get back into the “castle on the hill,” I’d be golden. Literally. Thankfully, however, reality hit and I recognized that, despite appearances, even the best schools in Baltimore were dealing with some rough spots. Even City was rumored to have lowered test scores to maintain acceptance rates. Even City had teachers with classroom management issues.
Even City, despite being a castle, was no fairytale.

During the ceremony Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm states, “A school is more than ivy-covered walls and buildings. It’s about the people as well.” I couldn’t agree more. I think the big push in Baltimore right now is to create the appearance of learning. Is to create the appearance of success. Is to advertise. And to fool. The problems in our schools are solvable. Most of them.
But none of them will be fixed until we—and I use we loosely (administrators, city officials, anyone?) admit to serious issues in such a way that we are forced to do more than in-home repairs.

But, how do you bulldoze a historic landmark?