Archive for the ‘drug recovery’ Category
February 2, 2010
My school is inside a drug rehab for adults just out of prison. The entire community is in a week-long workshop. Some students will come to school to get out of the workshop and others will ask to get out of school to attend the workshop. Either is fine. I like to sit in on the gathering, drop in for fifteen minutes. Today they were showing a documentary on the big flat screen. They said for every 200 men in prison, there were approximately 700-900 children missing a father on the outside. I couldn’t stop thinking about this. Even when my students are on the outside they often fail to parent their children. The children are the forgotten victims of the criminal system, of drug use, of crime. I give my students clear-vue binders and they most often use them to display photos of their family and friends. It’s like a bunch of teenagers decorating their notebooks.
Posted in drug recovery, education, parolees, prison, rehab | Leave a Comment »
January 31, 2010
I left a little late today and noticed a squad car parked just beyond the driveway that leads to the rehab community. One of my students — at least I think it was Roland — was standing with his back to me. Two police officers stood on either side of him and his hands were cuffed behind him which made him appear much broader in the back. The door to the car was open and the police were about to push him inside. I had to pass them on the way out but didn’t look at Roland. This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen one of my students arrested. It’s an odd sight but I always remind myself it’s better than seeing them in a coffin. Roland was a quiet, hardworking student. He had come in for about an hour on Friday. On Fridays I play Oldies during class if the students have been quiet all week. Shooby Dooby.
Update: It seems it wasn’t Roland being arrested last Friday. In trying to be discreet I made an assumption. I can jump to conclusions as quick as anyone with our prison population, something I have spent a decade trying to temper. Turns out, a fellow was trying to get into the rehab unauthorized. Beyond our gates is food, shelter, safety and community. As for me lesson learned once again.
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January 29, 2010
Carlos is excited. He will take his GED exam on Tuesday. He’s spent 250 hours preparing for the test in my school. But as he reminds me I am not enough help when it comes to math. He has fellow residents at the rehab helping him around the clock. He got a hold of a white-board erasable marker and is practicing pre-algebra on the mirror in his room. I imagine them all gathered around the mirror: “A minus-minus is a plus. Any number to the zero power is one.” And you thought addicts only used mirrors to snort cocaine? Carlos giggles when he gets a question right, as if you just gave him candy. I’m anticipating his big day too. Stay tuned, the test is just around the corner.
Posted in drug recovery, education, GED, parolees, rehab, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 26, 2010
My mom called today a little panicked. It seems someone had taken her ATM card number and drained her checking account. When I hear about such violations against my own family I think of my job and how I have to look past my students’ iniquities in order to help them. My job requires blinders rather than non-judgement. The blinders are in place because when the adults I teach walk through my door they are students first, not criminals and drug addicts. I don’t treat drug addiction, I help improve math skills. I have a theory that math can help in recovery from drugs because math requires a drug addict to use a very specific part of the brain that is in counterpoint to the dopamine-releasing, pleasure-seeking area of the limbic system addicts have been accessing for most of their lives. More math, less meth. Make sense? When one of my students tells me they are bored, I say great, welcome to the real world where dollars add up because you earned them.
Posted in atm fraud, drug recovery, meth, parolees, pink elephants, rehab, students, teacher | Leave a Comment »
January 22, 2010
I wonder if I have become more open to hearing student stories since starting this blog? Today Wilson actually asked if he could come in to speak with me on my lunch break. I probably would have turned him down, lunch breaks are sacred to teachers, but he recently hand cleaned all the chairs in my school and I feel listening is the least I can do. It must be stressed here that my school though located inside a drug rehab is not part of the therapeutic process. My students come to me to learn math and reading.
So I’m eating my taco salad prepared by the on site kitchen and Wilson tells me he didn’t make it to the solar paneling class he recently enrolled in. Instead he smoked marijuana on the premises in his room. He also told me he recently opened up about some early childhood abuse, spoke about it to staff. I gave him my whole attention. He told me his mom was his role model even if she wasn’t always there for him. Mostly, he seemed humble always saying others have it much worse. I hope he goes back to learn a trade. Fear of success is big in these guys. It’s rare to hear about success but even rarer to see it sustained.
Posted in drug recovery, education, parolees, rehab, students, teacher | Leave a Comment »
January 20, 2010
This is my tenth entry. I’m pretty sure this is a solo venture. If you are out there and have read any of my entries please leave me a comment, just a note to let me know this is different from keeping a private journal. Today my student Terrence wrote a letter, a response to his mother whom he hadn’t heard from in over a year. Terrence is a transsexual, male to female, and one of my favorite students at the rehab. He is moody and boldly honest and he out-dresses us all. He wrote that he didn’t have anywhere to go when his time at the rehab is up. Sometimes I wonder if he relapsed and returned because our community is a safe haven for him. He tried to explain to his mother that life is worth living, that he was hurt in the past when she hadn’t been there but didn’t hold on to resentment. I loved the end of his letter where he wished everything good for her, a nice home, a good job and a car.
Posted in adult education, drug recovery, education, parolees, rehab, students, teacher | 1 Comment »
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