Good Story

Today, our lunch was interrupted by a super serious "emergency meeting".

It started in a hushed auditorium with 150 fledgling teachers, and our school director said that she had seen a lot of things in the classroom and the halls that really upset her. We were asked to explain what Teach for America meant to us. We had to write our thoughts in journals. We were told that some changes were going to have to be made, and some teachers would be asked to leave. One by one the leaders stood up to say what TFA was really about. It was very serious and very uncomfortable. The last leader stood up and said "TFA means totally freakin awesome". At this comment the school director was visibly upset, and actually asked that leader to leave the room because we were trying to have a serious meeting. An uncomfortable pause elapsed as everyone watched her leave the room. Then my leader (CMA, actually, corps member advisor. this acronym will be IIAFP (implemented in all further posts)) stood up and stumbled over a few words, apparently in protest of the school directors decision. Then she said in a confrontational tone.... "TFA stands for..." at which point the school director and all the CMAs screamed "Totally Free Afternoon!" as everyone began to run around the room.

So we have the afternoon off, and were able to leave school early because we are halfway through Institute. I tell that story 1. because it was hilarious. and 2. because it is very exciting to be a part of an organization that takes its job so seriously that we actually bought the buildup, yet has such a great sense of humor that they could pull that off. The past few weeks have been unbelievably intense, but it is exciting to know that 6,000 people in classrooms all across America are all working towards the same goal within the same structure. Almost like being a part of the International Mission Board without the tracts.