This is Monty's back. He is one of my students.
This is Monty's trebuchet. He brought it to physics class for our projectile motion lesson. Anyway, just a glimpse into the life.
October 13th a.k.a Occupy Taos:
See that podium in the fore-front of the picture? Yes, that would be my students Occupy Wall Street art on a portable gallery that we built. It is the center of an Occupy Wall Street discussion and protest. Our class was so moved by what is happening nation, I mean world-wide, that we crafted a piece of art to bring awareness to our community in Taos. The talk focused on sustainability as a solution to corporate greed, but our art was a focus for a lot of the attenders. The discussion was the beginning of the local Taos section of a much greater Occupy debate. My students were most moved by the police brutality, but incorporated pieces on corporate greed and on the meaning behind the protests themselves. This is just a glimpse of the grandness of Vista Grande Charter High. My students rock.
September 21st:
Last week we took our students on a ruthless, intense, and extremely challenging backpacking trip through the Latir Mountain Range near Taos Ski Valley on the Long to Columbine hiking trails. With heavy packs and hopeful hearts we scaled from 8,000 to 12,000 feet. We successfully made it from the base to the peak of the mountain in two days. However, perfection is not an easy virtue. The mountain had other plans for us. Our hopeful spirits were about to be challenged by the pimp hand of the mountain. Rain, hail, slush, rain-hail, wind, and snow did not want us to succeed. The weather was dreadful. Although the spirituality of the mountains as well as the satisfaction of persevering through such chaos was enlightening. Our students were getting sick, injured, or pissed. Needless to say, our voyage ended a day earlier than expected. However, while in the mountains we read excerpts from Walden Pond. Poems from Pablo Neruda, and articles on how to respect nature. We try to educate natural preservation and preservation of the spirit while on our trips. However, in times of suffering all reflections and admiration go out the window. We needed to leave. We were not accomplishing our goal. It was a bummer. Until, my students baked me stir fry and chocolate chip pancakes for my birthday dinner the night before we left. All was well again. We left early. I got to go to Denver. And my students treated me to the best birthday dinner a girl could ever ask for. Team Gangster, we did well.
September 9th, 2011:
While teaching my physics students today, I decide to ask them if they want to listen to music while they are working on their projects. Of course, all of a sudden my students are more interested and more responsive to what I have to say than ever before. Go figure. One of my students requests Flux Pavillion followed by DJ Blend, and I am thinking, oh god, who the hell is that? This has the potential of backlashing. But, nonetheless I oblige my students request and I prepare myself for the unknown. And then, it began...dub step! So, I think to myself. First of all, your the teacher of these students! Reality still has not hit me there. And then, your class is bumping dub step music on the school's loud speakers in the physics classroom nonetheless. Oh great, I am that teacher. But, it sure is fun being that teacher. To another day my friends. Get your groove on. My physics class did.
Vista Grande Charter High
So, I am officially educating the youth of Taos, New Mexico in math and physics. Again, I am aware of the irony. Drew works for a marketing firm. Just call him a "marketing guru a.k.a big pimping, spending g's." For sounding so amazingly dull, life could not be any better for us both. We are riding on that cloud, oh what do the lay people call it, cloud 9? Yes, that one.
My school is the most special school this side of the Mason Dixon line. My students are some of the most open-minded, inquisitive, and intriguing people I have ever met, and my fellow colleagues are some of the coolest and most passionate people in Taos. My school is an Expeditionary Learning school, which follows the philosophy that students learn best by hands-on and experiential learning. In my first five weeks of school we will have gone on two week long backpack trips. The hope is that the backpack trip will allow students to reflect on society, their place within it, and recognize the power and beauty of nature. Pretty much, life is really awful right now if you could even begin to imagine.
It is such a wonderful feeling to wake up every morning excited to go to work. Each day is a new adventure of responsibility, challenge, and fulfillment.
We feel like we are home. The mountain has accepted us. We could not have asked for a better life.
