Last Friday night, a few of my housemates and I attended a Christmas Concert at Mt. St. Mary’s college. The concert was at their Chalon campus, located in the very ritzy hills of the west LA (We heard you pass Dustin Hoffman’s house on the way up to the school?) The view from “The Mount” was absolutely breathtaking…we could see the lights from all over LA, as well as the ocean. The next day, we went out in downtown Santa Monica to explore the nightlife scene there. We had heard a lot about the bars, and wanted to see for ourselves. On Sunday, we went back to Santa Monica in the evening for a Christmas tree lighting and holiday concert with some representatives from the other JV houses. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all evening, so the concert was postponed. We did get to see the tree lighting and participate in setting the record for most driedels spinning at one time, thanks to the Santa Monica synagogue’s efforts to break the Guinness Book of World Records entry.
My festive weekend was dampened (literally by the rain, but also figuratively) after a few powerful moments in which I recognized what the holiday season is like for my students and their families. A few stories to illustrate…
1. On Friday afternoon, I was sitting around with two of my girls, a third grader (PA) and a fourth grader (GG). (I’ll use initials instead of full names). I was being super silly with them, singing Christmas carols and asking them questions and talking about who knows what. There was no one else out on the field, so we were just chilling. At one point, I started singing “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” to make them giggle. (It worked!) But then, we had this conversation:
GG: Ms. Z., Santa’s not real,
Me: Of course he is, G! Of course Santa’s real!
GG: Nuh-uh, know how I know?
Me: How?
GG: Cause I never get a present. Only from Urban Compass.
Cue teary eyes. Thank goodness I was wearing sunglasses. My heart broke, right there on the spot. Not knowing what on Earth I could say, I changed the subject and started singing another Christmas song, one that most definitely did NOT include Santa Claus.
2. Yesterday, Mattel Inc. brought a “Snow Day” to 112th St. School. It was incredible – they brought in snow machines, a slide for toboggans, free lunch, gifts for all the students, and probably 50 “elves” (staff members). It was a great day for the kids – they got to play in the snow, have a giant dance party on the playground, etc. One of Urban Compass’ partner schools (an elementary school in Pasadena) brought down a food donation for 112th St. School. About a dozen fourth and fifth graders came to deliver the goods and see what the Snow Day was all about. On the way, some of the moms were explaining to the kids that for the 112th St. students, this might be the most exciting thing about their Christmas season; they don’t get a lot of gifts a home, they don’t have a lot of money, and their families often can’t celebrate in the same ways those students do. One kid asked the mom, “Well, why don’t they get gifts from Santa? Does Santa like us more than he likes them?” Talk about taking the magic out of the myth. Again, my heart broke when I heard this story. Watching the visiting students take in the Snow Day was interesting. To them, everything they saw was “so cool!” The kids at 112th St. were “so lucky!!” “Why don’t we do that?” Unpacking the reality that this was a very special and rare treat for our students was challenging. Theresa did a great job of explaining that our kids are pretty poor and don’t often get to leave the projects, which left the visiting students pretty depressed. However, they got to meet some of the Urban Compass kids, and I was amazed at how friendly they were and how quickly they clicked. Every day these kids amaze me.
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