I will never forget the outpouring of love and support from
Chicagoans, and fellow educators worldwide.
I teach in a community where the families do not have many resources,
but everyday families would drop off water, Gatorade, and homemade goodies for
us. The support ranged from thumbs up
from customers at Target, to honks from CTA, CPD, and CFD, to churches dropping
off coffee and tamales, and truck
drivers passing out candy bars.
I loved traveling around the city, and striking up conversations
with Chicagoans. People wanted to know
what was really happening, what we were really fighting for, they were
listening and sharing our story. Taking
the ‘el downtown for a rally and watching the train car become filled with more
and more red shirts, never became less exciting. I miss the feeling I got when we took over the
streets, the excitement in the air combined with the solidarity was
breathtaking.
Today as I looked around at my colleagues proudly wearing
RED and CTU gear, I think about how we have changed since last year. When we returned from the strike last year,
we felt the pressure being placed upon us from administration, both locally and
district wide. We worked as hard as we
could, gave everything 120%, but no matter what we did it never seemed to be
enough.
This summer gave everyone and chance to relax and recharge,
and we have returned with a new perspective on things. I know for myself personally I am remaining
in a peaceful state of mind. I am not
letting myself become stressed out over things that I cannot control. My focus is on providing my students the best
learning environment and learning experiences possible when they are with
me. (Despite this “lovely” reminder of
the dangers of the neighborhood, on our classroom window)
Things are still far from perfect, my school has issues, as
do many other schools, but what’s different from a year ago, is that my
colleagues are no longer afraid to speak up.
From the strike, we learned that there is strength in numbers. We are asking questions, we are challenging
thinking, we are not okay with being quiet, and we want our voices to be heard.
I know that this fight, our fight, is far from over, the
strike was just a first of many battles to come. I know that with solidarity anything is possible.
