Public Education

As a cradle-to-BA alumnus of Wisconsin's public schools, I have never appreciated the quality of education I received. Admittedly, I took it for granted. Living out in LA and hearing all the bad news about their public schools has brought me to a greater appreciation for not only the tax dollars that go into our schools, but also the teachers who put countless hours of preparation and immeasurable creativity and care into their lesson plans to give their students the best education they possibly can.

California's ranks 47th (out of 50...) in the amount of funding they send to their public schools, and has the Los Angeles Unified School District alone has laid of over 7,000 teachers. In the community where I work, if an adolescent doesn't get accepted into a Catholic or private school, that student barely has a 30% chance of graduating from high school. A 70% drop out rate is not a very encouraging statistic, especially given the problems with gangs and violence we deal with on a daily basis.

I'm not quite sure where the priorities lie here but when I talk to the 8th graders who go to school at Dolores Mission, I am proud that their desire to go to a Catholic high school will grant them success in the future. At the same time, when they tell me that they don't get the attention they need in public schools; that the teachers don't care; that they often walk away not understanding what was just taught to them, even after asking question upon question, I am disheartened and disappointed.

The point of this isn't to bash LAUSD. I don't know enough about the finances and politics surrounding all of that to make any judgements. Rather, the point is simply to acknowledge the quality education I have received and an appreciation for all of the stress I caused my teachers, kinder through college.

A little bit of home...

It shouldn't go without mentioning that my awesome little brother, Chuck, came out to LA for a visit over his spring break. He flew in on Sunday and left last night. It was hard to see him go.

A quick summary of his trip:

Sunday: Picked him up at the airport. Drove around Venice for 2 hours looking for parking. Gave up and went to Santa Monica to cruise around the 3rd Street Promenade and eat some din-din.

Monday: Headed up to Griffith Park and Observatory. Walked up a very steep hill to find that the Observatory is closed on Mondays. Ate at Yogurtland. Twice.

Tuesday: Read Bibles in front of the Scientology org. When we were done, went back to where we left the car to find that it was gone - got towed. Rode with two other ladies whose car got towed in the tiny cab of another tow truck to the impound lot. Pay $207 to get the car back. Still have to pay the $148 parking ticket. Ate dinner with the men of the Guadalupano Homeless Project at DM. Chuck discovered a general dislike for stuffed peppers.

Wednesday: Went to the Getty. Awesome place. Amazing art and beautiful gardens. Ate dinner at Teresitas (local Mexican restaurant) - tortilla chips and tacos, yum! Went to a presentation by Leslie Gelb about American foreign policy (not as boring as it sounds!)

Thursday: Stopped by the Museum of Natural history, where Chuck's dream of seeing a T-rex in person was realized. Also starred in the documentary they were filming - twice! Enjoyed El Pollo Loco for lunch, tried to find the La Brea Tar Pits (where they found a bunch of dino fossils) but just wasted a bunch of gas in the process. Drove 15 miles ( = 60 minutes in LA traffic) to Griffith Park again. Walked down a hill. Then back up it. Took a third trip to Yogurtland and brought Chuck to the airport.

I cried the whole way home.

East LA Sleep Out

Yesterday morning I was flipping through the LA Times and a title on page A12 in the "California Briefings" section caught my eye. It said "Come sleep with the homeless" and though it was barely a blurb among lots of other news, it was a press release detailing the action Dolores Mission would be taking that night to stand in solidarity with the homeless and those who have lost their homes to foreclosure. The event wasn't news to me - I was at the meeting when we decided to do it - but it was exciting to see it announced to all of LA!

We gathered in the plaza at Dolores Mission around 10 pm and held a short service where the story of Jesus' time of prayer in Gethsemane was read and we heard testimonies of the immigrants who stay at our homeless shelter as well as that of a woman who is currently going through the process of foreclosure.

The event was a huge success and we got a TON of press: 3 different news stations including Fox and Univision; Associate Press; International press and a photographer from a well-known local paper whose name I can't remember right now.

So last night I spent the night sleeping under the stars in the plaza of Dolores Mission. I was well prepared: sweat pants, thick sweatshirt, mummy bag rated to 20 degrees, a camping pad and another sleeping bag to cushion me from the hard brick plaza floor. I was a little concerned about being cold and not being to sleep, but I think it might have been the best night's sleep I've gotten all week (even if it was just a few hours!).

But as I lay next to friends and co-workers in my envelope of warmth and comfort - even on the hard ground - I couldn't ignore the fact that I was still sleeping in luxury compared to the countless people who sleep with dirty, ragged blankets under bridges and overpasses among strangers and in danger. Of course, thinking about those people doesn't do much to help them...

Last night's event was another great example of the emphasis on "walking with" here at Dolores Mission. We intentionally gave up the warmth and safety of our homes and beds to experience - if even in a minute way - what a myriad of people "less fortunate" than us endure on a daily basis. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have done something that contributes to the work of social justice.

Success!

Last weekend I led my very first retreat, and it was a hit! Three other confirmation leaders and I took a group of 19 girls to Loyola Marymount University for a day-long retreat covering relationships, dignity, sexual values and spiritual. Yep, it's as heavy as it sounds.

The day started at the beach, where the girls were asked to write their worries and fears for the day in the sand right where the water could reach them. Then they watched the ocean wash them away. Very symbolic (except my fear - that the retreat would bomb - seemed to be out of the ocean's reach for a while and I was starting to get nervous that it was a bad omen!)

Fortunately the girls came with the right mind set and my fear of failure was washed away with their depth of reflection and cooperation. It was a true joy to be able to open up to the girls after being the cell phone nazi for the last 6 monhts and just enjoy their company. We're hoping to beef up our retreat program for all the youth opportunities we're going to be offering, and I'm super excited for that!