Today was the conclusion of the writing workshop. I've been reflecting on how it all came about. In the Fall, I was asked to teach an essay class for teens at the space where my kids were taking a theatre/movement class. All I was planning on doing during that time was hanging out in the waiting room and reading anyway, so why not? Only a few students signed up, but at the end of it all of them requested another class, and a couple of them asked if I tutored. I hadn't planned on it, but why not?
The tutoring: one student is a very, very advanced musician, and brilliant academic (she was so sharp that I consistently forgot that she was only 14). Her dad handed me a brutal looking spreadsheet with all of the top boarding schools/prep schools on the East Coast and a couple of top privates in Manhattan -- and their coordinating requirements for admissions. Over the course of several weeks she and I fine-tuned her essays and short-answers, and I wrote some letters of recommendation. She worked her tail off, often revising pieces many, many times. She got in to all of her top choices, even though some of them have a <10% acceptance rate. Once her application packets were complete and our tutoring days were over, unexpectedly another family asked me to help out. It is a brother and sister. Their first language is Hebrew and they are Orthodox and so gracious about sharing their culture with me -- the entire family is authentic and embracing and open. I love working with the two kids -- the girl is creative and loves to write and will sit with wide eyes asking questions and soaking up suggestions and writing in her notebook as fast as possible. She is working on a novel -- based on the trials that her grandmother went through beginning with the invasion of her country by the red army. The boy is unbelievably charming. He is a self-professed non-writer, preferring instead to work on his computer programming and the app that he is about finished creating. And yet, he will accept every suggestion with a huge smile, and a, "Sure, sure. I can do that." The other student is a gentle soul -- lovely and ethereal. In the past year she suffered a medical condition that caused her some cognitive set-backs, and she and her family have been working hard to get her back to where she had been before she goes off to college next year. I worked with her on organization and clarity through literary analysis, grammar reviews, mini-lessons, and essays. Being welcomed into homes and families, and being given the responsibility and trust to tutor these kids has been a fascinating, and often touching, side journey that I wasn't expecting when this home schooling adventure began.
Aside from the tutoring, I was also asked to lead the creative writing workshop. It has been an engaging run. I've been surprised at the passion and talent that the students bring. I've liked their interaction with each other and the way that they actually care about what I, and others in the workshop, say and share. Their maturity and overall pleasantness and sweetness has impressed me. Again, teaching some random teenagers that I had no previous connection with was never part of the plan, and yet it has added a depth to this year that I have come to greatly value.
So, today was the last day of the workshop. As such it was actually a "reading." Everybody brought what they wanted to share, and I brought some sparkling lemonade and cookies, and one boy brought his mom and sister. After the reading we sat around in a circle and chatted about writing in general, and what they wanted me to teach next year, and there was a robust conversation about Dr. Who that somehow led to whether or not the new Sherlock was better than the other Sherlock show called, Elementary. Again, purely and utterly fun and fascinating to see such enthusiasm and intelligence. Anybody who is anti-teenager need only stop by one of these writing workshops.
As I was pouring and passing out the lemonade one of the students suggested a toast... to me. Ahhh... One student gave me a hug (it was unexpected, ergo incredibly awkward, but still sweet). It was important that my kids were there, for I think it was beneficial for them to see that I'm not just a nag who makes up assignments to harass them... I actually had a past life wherein I learned a skill that some people appreciate.
They are strange, and important moments when we catch glimpses of our parents in a different light.
