Emma's Story

One life changing experience I had as an AmeriCorps member came one day as I was hanging out in the art classroom after school. I was working on an i-Movie project for the art students and talking to some of the kids who came to hang out. Around 4 PM, one of the students who was in the gallery space came over and said he had something to show me. He led me into the gallery space and I was greeted by a group of 4-5 male students who were gathered together in a circle. Their faces were somber, two of them still had tears in their eyes.

The boys were gathered as part of a group of artists, rappers, and creative dreamers who wanted to make a pact to change their school. They had a vision for creating a studio, having mass concerts, and promoting

their art. This particular day they had gathered together to tell each other their life stories. They wanted to really know one another if they were going to work together. As their stories started, something started to happen because they realized that they had all faced struggles: broken families, violence, disappointment, isolation, and fear.

When I was brought in they said they wanted me to know that they had all discovered something that day. They were all the same. They had different stories, but they were all brothers together in the struggle. They all saw that life was still beautiful, and they were hopeful for big things. Two of the boys still cried as they talked about what it meant to be honest with another person and see that they were not alone.

I was welcomed into that space by these students and I was floored. So much of high school is a facade. So much of what they know about manhood is a mask of invulnerability, a too-often necessary protection

in a society riddled with injustice. The need to be defensive, to have your guard up, seemed to dominate most of the interactions that I observed. The honesty in that room was so real, was so vividly different from what was “normal,” that it felt touch-able. The masks came off, and all of a sudden there we were, just brothers and sisters together in pain and in hope. It was a life-changing moment for me to be welcomed into my students’ lives in such a vulnerable way, but also it was a testament to the culture that one teacher in particular had worked hard to create.

Because of some of the outstanding results at the school where Emma serves, President Obama visited Dorchester High/Tech Boston last spring.