Mommy's in High School?

A teacher from Teach For America visited us in class the other day. Teach for America is a program in which qualified adults volunteer as teachers of students in poor communities for 2 years. He talked about the community he teaches in, which is in the United States, contrary to what some of our preconceived notions stated. Curious as to what the school and students are like, we asked him how it is different than here. He would know especially because he graduated from New Trier so he had experienced both worlds in his young life. The most shocking thing he said is that a quarter of the students at his school have a baby. This disturbing, yet accurate fact, shocked all of us in the classroom. Occasionally there is an incident of teenage pregnancy at our school, but it is always regarded as a huge scandal, not a common occurrence. We New Trier students have such a narrow view of the world that we cannot possibly imagine some of the hardships these students face on a daily basis. It instills hope in me that we have programs like Teach for America that recognize these troubled schools and look to fix it, starting with small actions and working to change the system of education nationwide. I hope that we all put ourselves in those unfortunate students' shoes and realize how grateful we should be for this world we live in and do not take it for granted any longer.