Constructing Kasun, Educator

Yesterday I took several students to a conference at a university after school.  Below is a letter I’m going to share with them tomorrow about the experience.

Dear Students,

Yesterday you showed me that you can be very, very good.  I don’t mean well-behaved, I mean “good” like how I want my own kids to be some day.  “Good” as in wanting to do what’s right and not being afraid to do it. 

I was nervous about the entire proposition of taking a group of students to a university to hear a panel of speakers from Africa who have lived through war.  It was a university discussion for university students after school hours.  Would you all be up to the challenge?  At the same time, I was excited by the theme of the conference, transitioning from victimhood to peace-building.  That’s exactly what I hope for all my students to do–not to consider yourselves victims in a country that isn’t always fair to immigrants and their families, but to rise above it.

Now I know some of you didn’t want to attend, and others unfortunately couldn’t.  That’s ok.  I think if you had come, you would have followed the example of the other students.

So after the difficulties of getting the funds for a bus and finding out how many of you might be able to attend, we were set.  Some of the other ESOL students and Black Cultural Alliance (BCA) students wanted to come along, and we set out with one of the BCA sponsors.  I wasn’t certain any of the students would like the conference.  What if the speakers were boring?  What if the bus didn’t show up on time?  What if one of the students got lost?

But none of those fears were valid.  Instead, you were model students.  Better yet, model people.  You filed neatly through the hors d’oeuvres line like refined adults at a cocktail party.  You sat and listened respectfully, attentively, throughout the more than 90 minutes of discussions.  Like you, I was riveted by the discussions.  A woman from Rwanda not only fled her home country during the genocide, she spent three years in a refugee camp in another country only to experience another war that broke out there.  Another woman lived through years as a child soldier with the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda.  She described the initiations into being a soldier—killing others and watching others be killed.  Others spoke of different atrocities.  And they all spoke about the need to forgive and the need to take the power of their pain and turn it into victory over war and death.  I was amazed at their courage and inspired to act. 

After the conference, many of you introduced yourselves to the speakers.  Some of you have lived through similar tragedies already.  And you keep coming to school, committing to become someone better than you already are. 

All of the speakers said we can do things to change the world.  Many said you can write letters to senators and representatives.  We’ve already done that for other issues, and we can keep writing.  But they also said we can join up with and start our own organizations.  Some of you said you’re interested after the conference.  I know you really mean that, and I hope we’re good enough teachers to help lead you to find your way.

Thanks for being such good students.  You make me want to be the teacher you deserve.

Warmly,

Ms. Kasun