A Shining Ray of Hope

Humid, humid, humid. I've had the air conditioning on for 2 days now. First our temperatures were 10 degrees below normal, now they are 10 degrees above normal.

And I lost an hour of sleep last night.

In the newspaper yesterday was a great article on an intelligent young woman, 17 years old, who attends the Alternative Learning and Transition Academy, a charter school here in Houston. Geraldine Mares was upset about pending immigration legislation and was looking for the best way to voice her concerns. Instead of walking out of class last week as so many of her peers in other schools did, she initiated an hour long talk with leaders of her school and decided afterwards to read the bills and write lawmakers.

Now we're thinking.

She said she knew walkouts only reflected poorly on the school and that a letter-writing campaign would get the attention of elected representatives.

She was right.

Two Houston Democrats representing the district, one U.S. Rep and one state Rep, came to the school Friday and spoke to the students about the legislative process and their views. This leads teachers to incorporate civics lessons into just about every subject in school.

Good idea.

The lack of civics class in today's education, as opposed to the actual civics classes required when I was a girl in school back in the dark ages, has produced a generation of young people without basic knowledge of what it takes to be a productive, involved citizen in today's world. Now they are called "teachable moments" and I applaud teachers taking the time to apply current events to real life for the students.

Hats off to this bright young woman who made a difference in her school. I'm guessing it won't be the last we hear of her.

"Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four peices with your bare hands -- and then just eat one of the pieces." - Judith Viorst