A product of the teachers, not the system

Jacob Marrocco
Posted 9/10/15

Editor’s note: Jacob Marrocco, who has worked this summer as assistant sports editor, attended Tuesday’s School Committee meeting. Here’s how he viewed what took place.

As I looked around …

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A product of the teachers, not the system

Posted

Editor’s note: Jacob Marrocco, who has worked this summer as assistant sports editor, attended Tuesday’s School Committee meeting. Here’s how he viewed what took place.

As I looked around the auditorium at Toll Gate High School on Tuesday night, I saw the faces of several teachers I had during my time at Pilgrim High School from 2008-12.

Though, there was definitely a change in the mood I was used to seeing them in. Whenever I walked the halls at Pilgrim, they would greet me with smiles, jokes, stories, facts and whatever else happened to come up in conversation. This school committee meeting, however, was markedly different.

Then, the past kept coming back.

I saw guidance counselors and teachers from when I went through Aldrich, from 2006-08. Even from Wyman Elementary, when I was just a kid. I still recognized them, but there was a feeling of dejection swirling, too. That was something I sure wasn’t used to seeing at Aldrich or Wyman.

High school teachers and mentors that I had stepped up to the microphone during their two-minute public comment and could have filled a book with their gripes against the system. Accusations flew and anger grew, it could be felt throughout the room.

Eventually, that fire started to burn within me as well.

It’s not just the meeting, either. All across social media, teachers post about how much they do for their students and the time they devote to their profession. I don’t need to read a post about it; I lived it. It’s difficult to make a kid or a teenager want to go to school, but these teachers did. Sure, the course material may not have always been glamorous, but the teachers always did their best to make sure we were invested.

And that’s just during school hours. In high school I was the class president, involved in drama club and mock trial and recorded statistics for various teams. I had something to do every day after school because these teachers made themselves available. All of my friends and fellow students had a sport to go play, or a hobby to pursue, or a play to act in because of the selflessness our teachers displayed and continue to display.

It hurts to see these people marginalized and disrespected. The people who years ago passed on words of wisdom (and still do) that help me get better with my profession and with my everyday life. The teachers who guided me through the awkward times that were middle school. The ones who taught me the most basic facts of life for six hours a day, five days a week.

I am a product of them. I may be only 20 years old, but just about everything I have learned I owe to them. Not to a system, but to their drive and dedication to do what they love. They helped shape the man I am today, whether it be through a comment on a research paper, a recommendation after a mock trial loss or just a life tip.

To those who think it’s all about the money, I honestly don’t think it is. Call me naive if you would like, but better working conditions for teachers and their students don’t sound like a bad starting ground. I was in those classrooms just a few years ago, sweltering in the late summer. I know what it was like.

Yet, unsurprisingly, nothing has changed despite attempted changes. My teachers still go about their jobs with students in mind. I understand it’s a business, but using the futures of children as bargaining chips is disgusting. I don’t owe what I learned from ages 5 to 18 to any school committee or lawyers; I owe it to the teachers who spent hours in and out of school preparing the best lesson plans and work for us.

It’s been three years since I walked a hallway as a Warwick student, and some of the complaints I heard and problems I experienced then are still there.

I am the product of teachers who work for a system that continually refuses to adapt. There have been changes to curriculum and class sizes, mostly for worse, but it all goes back to the old adage: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I saw frustration in those teachers at Toll Gate on Tuesday night, most of whom I never had, but some I did. And it irks me to know that with all they gave to me, and the numerous other products they successfully readied for the world, that they should have to resort to this to make their point.

Comments

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  • warwickfan

    Overall a pretty good article.

    Thursday, September 10, 2015 Report this

  • leekhat

    I agree.

    Friday, September 11, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    I don't.

    Friday, September 11, 2015 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    Self-entitled, narcissistic babies who think they DESERVE to feed off the public teat. Teachers' unions should be abolished third, after police & fire. No one ever told you that you were going to get wealthy teaching, but it's "all about the kids", right? More citizens should be a "fly on the wall" sometime and listen to what some "educators" really think of their imagined position in life, your kids, and the taxpayer- bring a picket sign and a pocket tape recorder (ballcap video cameras are expensive; I have one for my line of work) and go to a picket line and get an earful.

    Monday, September 14, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Mr. Marrocco: Can we begin with the following sentence: "Though, there was definitely a change in the mood I was used to seeing them in." While your support for former teachers is commendable, one can not help but question the rigor of English classes during your four years at Pilgrim.

    As to the substance of your remarks, your use of the words "marginalize and disrespect" is curious. Aside from the fact that these words have become vastly overused, how are teachers in Warwick being "marginalized", exactly? Is it the salary of $80,000 for a teacher with ten years' experience and a masters' degree? Is it the generous pension? Health care benefits? 37 week year? Paid sick days? Personal days? Don't forget, it's "for the children" until contract time. Then it's work to rule and entering your place of business in attire best suited for the beach. "Marginalized" and "disrespected"? How about entitled and over-compensated.

    Monday, September 14, 2015 Report this

  • Waprovencal

    Oh the irony in the last two lines of your statement Mr. Stark! Name calling? That's respectful! How about taking home test papers, book reports, term papers to correct. How about buying school supplies 3 or 4 times a year? How about staying after school to help further a struggling student? Hours of practices for the coaches? Chaperoning dances, being at open house, getting to school early to prep for the day, using their own money for classroom decorations?

    What do you do for work Mr. Stark? Thank a teacher for being able to write and obtain a job!

    Monday, September 14, 2015 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    When I was learning to write, my teachers complained to my parents that I needed to "stop using big words so the other children don't laugh".

    My teachers were, on the whole, useless clock-watchers, and when I got to high school, it just got worse- I ended up with tenured nitwits with alcohol and pill problems, mental illness, senility, etc., who should have been retired.

    I thank the majority of my teachers for "day care" while my parents were working.

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this

  • Norm88

    John Stark you hypocrite FYI it is cannot not can not and your fragmented sentences are too many to mention.

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Waprovencal: Using the words "entitled" and "over-compensated" is not name calling, but rather a characterization of their status. Taking home test papers, book reports, term papers to correct is...ready?...part of the job for which they signed up. Ditto, helping a struggling student after school, as we've been told time and again that it's "...all for the children". The purchase of school supplies is a choice. Coaches are compensated extra for their coaching duties. Most responsible adults get to work early to properly prepare for the day, at least those who are successful.

    My parents taught me to write, and economic urgency prepared me for employment. I have thanked my former teachers many times over the years and will continue to do so. But not one of them dislocated a shoulder while patting himself on the back for helping a struggling student.

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Norm: Of course the sentences are fragmented. That's what you do in a blog post, but not a written op-ed piece. See the difference? Please tell us you weren't Mr. Marrocco's English teacher at Pilgrim.

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    When they can't argue your position, they'll correct your grammar and punctuation...

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this

  • Waprovencal

    I apologize, I should have directed the name calling statement to RIS. Correcting papers, tests, book reports is part of the job but it is not required to take them home. I do know coaches are compensated but not for the hours they actually put in. I am sure that whatever your job is, I am sure you do not voluntarily take work home and do work things in your off hours.

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Waprovencal, If teachers do not wish to take those tasks home, they should complete them in their place of business. I have been in my office until well past 10:00 PM many, many times, and logged on at 6:00 AM the following morning to be sure things got done correctly. In many businesses, including mine, there are no "off hours". That includes completing tasks while on family vacation and many weekends. It's just part of the deal. Simply put, it's different in the private sector, which explains a relative lack of empathy for teachers who are being "marginalized and disrespected" for putting in the occasional 10 hour day. They do themselves no favors with this 'work to rule' idiocy.

    Thursday, September 17, 2015 Report this