Rural White Appalachians Feel Victimized, We Should Listen

    I recently wrote an op-ed (Charleston Gazette-Mail, 2/15/23 "Is it Woke Just to be a Decent Person?") explaining and debunking the negative attacks by extremist Republicans on what they call “woke” (the English teacher in me wants to correct that to wokeness). They apply this taunt to anyone who holds ideas different from theirs, especially those held by Democrats, liberals, progressives. Beliefs such as that democracy is important; that our Constitution protects us from being subject to the religious rules and practices that may not agree with our own; that American history is not simply a story of rugged individualists conquering a wilderness and building a modern nation, but that our history contains many shameful chapters in which the majority white settlers oppressed, murdered, and stole from the indigenous people, they enslaved people they imported from Africa and the Caribbean and any immigrants whose skin was not as light as most northern Europeans. Republicans want laws that protect them from having to treat people equally whose sexual identity does not match the two genders recognized in the Christian Bible, ban books, teachers, and ideas that might cause their children to question the narrative of American greatness in all things at all times or cause them discomfort as they grapple with difficult issues encountered in factual history.

Remember Hillary Clinton’s comment that there were different “baskets” of Republicans, most of whom were reasonable and could be worked with, but a minority of whom belonged in the “basket of deplorables?” Remember Obama’s observation to a group of educated urbanites that when some working class folks lose the industries that had supported their communities for generations, sometimes “they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations?”

Clinton and Obama weren’t wrong.  Who could argue that some of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol or those who marched with Tiki torches in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us,” weren’t acting deplorably? While I believe one shouldn’t label a person deplorable, suggesting they can’t change, aren’t many rural white Americans angry, going to churches or seeking news sources that tell them criminals and rapists are flooding over the borders to change our way of life? Aren’t some even considering using their guns to start a revolution?

But I want to argue that we are not going to change minds by writing people off as crazy, stupid, uneducated, or un-American. Despite our facts, statistics, and logic, many every day West Virginians feel as if they are victimized by life in America—and they are not wrong.

West Virginians endure jokes and even discrimination because they use the language they grew up with, a dialect that includes words like ain’t, usages like “he don’t,” accents that make it hard to distinguish pin from pen or make flower sound like “flar.” Their pride in independence: the ability to eke out sustenance from a rocky and mountainous region causes them to be subjected to stereotypes that they walk around with rifles, barefoot, carrying a jug of moonshine. Of course some do—and celebrate that, and will invite you to join them hunting or drinking. Many people believe Trump wasn’t entirely wrong when he said, “there were very fine people on both sides” in Charlottesville. We’ve had presidents, writers of the Constitution who it’s hard not to call “very fine people,” but they owned other people, profited off their labor, while being civil and polite to others. Among the January 6 rioters were people who truly believed they were protesting a stolen election. We should never define people in black and white, though their actions can be defined. As to their character, there are always shades of grey. 

My message today is simply this, we can’t write off our neighbors as beyond redemption. They may believe things that we know are untrue, they may fit Appalachian stereotypes: suspicious of outsiders, believers in strict religions that promise hellfire in the hereafter for anyone who touches demon alcohol or strays from moral strictures regarding gender and sexuality.  They may speak and write in what appear to be illiterate ways, and they may express hatred for people who do not look like them, who they actually may fear. Nevertheless, they can be decent people who would “give you the shirt off your back,” tow your car out of a ditch, give you a basket of fresh vegetables. 

Perhaps we can change their minds, but not unless we start from a place of respect. They may be extremists and may be fast asleep to the changes we see in the culture of the United States and the world, but we can begin to wake them up only if we rise above our prejudices.

Paul Epstein is a retired teacher and musician living in Charleston, WV

Wake Up, West Virginia

 

Wake up, West Virginia. If Florida is “where woke goes to die,” as their governor Ron DeSantis crows, then we need to understand what it means for West Virginia. For far right political propaganda warriors, “woke” is an all encompassing term for everything they believe is wrong with being liberal or progressive in one’s thinking.

The term “woke” started among young people on college campuses to describe the awareness they felt for the problems of our society that they were concerned with and studying. Those who denied that racism was a continuing problem in our institutions, that LGBTQ+ people needed protections against discrimination, that misogyny and sexual assault were not solved by laws, that climate change was an existential problem, and that there was a relationship, or intersectionality, that connected these problems, well, that person was not awake to the problems many vulnerable minorities face. In short, being aware, practicing empathy, is being “woke.”

Many social conservatives, on the other hand, proudly deny these problems and see possible solutions as problems. They claim it’s a problem to acknowledge that racism still exists in America and even sometimes go so far as to say it is the white majority that is suffering from discrimination. They claim that allowing same sex marriage somehow degrades the institution of marriage between heterosexuals and that someone who views themself as “trans,” or a different gender than they appear to be (or were “assigned at birth” which medically speaking is not always clear), is not entitled to the same rights as people they view as normal. They resent being asked to be respectful by asking or using a person’s preferred pronouns. They view the right to burn fossil fuels as a God given right despite trillions of dollars in disasters caused or made worse by climate change. They deny people the right of bodily autonomy in matters of pregnancy. And they demand that children should be shielded from learning anything about these issues in school, even if they come from families where it is their lived experience.

What does it mean to not be “woke?” Above, I identified social conservatives who deny these issues. Some are like ostriches with their heads in the ground, seeking to ignore a changing world. Some are angry that the world they were taught about in church or home is not the one they now confront. They want to turn back the clock. To not be woke, I believe, is to be either ignorant or in denial. As a white, heterosexual male, I cannot speak for my fellow humans who are directly affected by the daily barrage of insult or even vitriol coming from people ignorant or in denial. Growing up Jewish in a Christian community, I sometimes encountered small scale anti-semitism from acquaintances. Once I was asked for a quarter by a boy, who, after I gave it to him, turned to his friend and said, “See, he’s not a Jew.” I didn’t try to wake him up to the reality that I was, in fact, a Jew.

Being “woke” does not have to be something to fear or criticize or legislate against. C’mon West Virginia, wake up—it’s just being decent.

WV Legislature Made Progress Destroying Public Education in 2022

Teachers in 2018: It may be time to walk out again. Certainly must VOTE!

Teachers (and anyone who cares about public education in WV), listen up! In one case, four minutes was all that stood between you this legislative session and the unreasonable demands of Republican lawmakers. I’m talking about their so-called “Anti-Racism Act” (SB 498–it passed, but too late to become law). But they managed to pass at least two other disturbing education bills or resolutions. SB 704, which passed and is headed to the governor for signing, requires teachers to make all course materials available by the first day of class for parents/guardians to preview. They can demand that you “demonstrate how the supplementary instructional material relates to the content standards...” If you fail to do so in a manner that satisfies, they can file a complaint to your Superintendent, which, if not “resolved,” goes to the state Superintendent. You could get in trouble, for example if you introduced something from a current newspaper that hadn’t been made available for parents to preview by the first day of class! So current events are now not acceptable? What about the internet?

The “Anti-Racism Act” claimed to prevent teachers/schools from requiring students or employees to “state or believe in the superiority of one race or biological sex over another.” It states students/employees can’t be obligated to feel guilt or in any way responsible for what a member of their race or biological sex did in the past. But, for example, if you introduced the fact that white plantation owners enslaved blacks and sometimes beat or lynched them, and a child goes home and says their teacher made them feel “discomfort” or guilt, that parent can file a complaint against you with your principal that can end up on the Superintendent’s desk.

How should a teacher respond if a student or a colleague said, “If poor people of color just worked harder, they would be equal economically and socially to other (white) Americans?” I would want to point out that many are already working 2 and 3 jobs and that bias or discrimination may prevent advancement in some cases. But the Anti-Racism bill would have made it illegal for you to explain that the concepts of “meritocracy” or “a hard work ethic” are sometimes, to paraphrase the bill’s language, used by racists and sexists to deny that discrimination oppresses another group. Confused yet? If I were still teaching, I’d be afraid to even bring up or respond to a student on the topic of racism or sexism. I guess that’s the point.

It should not need to be stated that not every person of color is or was disadvantaged by discriminatory systems that existed and may still exist: slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, immigration laws, bank loan and credit policy, unfair policiing, etc. It also goes without saying that not every white person was or is directly advantaged by those systems. But most white Americans, even in West Virginia, had or have access to better schools, nicer neighborhoods, higher paying jobs, the ability to elect those in government who would improve their roads, etc. Of course those advantages shouldn’t leave children with any sense of guilt and doesn’t make them responsible for the problems such inequities have created in our society. That’s common sense–something sorely lacking in the minds of many at the Capitol.

Incompetence saved teachers this time. SB 498, the “Anti-Racism Act” was passed four minutes after midnight on the last night of the session, so it will not become law….yet.

But do you think they’ll stop trying to make it or something like it law?

WV Republicans also passed a Constitutional amendment for the November ballot that would take control of school curriculum and policies out of the hands of professionals and citizen boards. “Decisions affecting daily classroom life would be placed in the hands of a partisan Legislature,” the WV Board of Education declared in a letter opposing the Constitutional amendment.

Teachers and school staff, supported by the public, stood 55 counties strong in unity for affordable health care and better pay for all public employees in 2018. Now all West Virginians need to stand strong and vote out the legislators responsible for bad legislation this session.

Help organize voters to vote down the Constitutional amendment that gives the legislature final authority for all public education policies and curriculum while letting homeschools and “learning pods” of unlimited size free to ignore all state board educational policies and curriculum.

Teachers and service personnel, if you haven’t joined WVEA, AFT-WV, or WVSSPA it’s time to do so, because you will need the protection of professional organizations. They can represent you in hearings and investigations if angry, close minded parents influenced by right wing media make unfounded complaints. You should be allowed to teach in a way that will inspire students to work for a more equitable and fair West Virginia. If you are forced to avoid tough subjects and good teachers continue leaving the profession, young people will continue moving out of state to live in places where all people are treated with respect under the law.

Paul Epstein is a retired elementary school teacher and musician living in Charleston

Let Teachers Teach History (not propaganda)

As some members of our legislature introduce legislation to prevent WV teachers from honestly teaching American history because they worry it is “divisive” or that white students will be ashamed of the facts of our American history, it’s worth reviewing what those facts are.

Imagine a world in which Christopher Columbus discovered America and the Europeans who followed were welcomed by Native Americans who, fed them, sold them land, and in a few rare instances fought against Europe’s and later America’s eventual colonization of the continent, generally living peacefully together with help from missionaries to learn agriculture and give up their former life of struggle to survive in a vast wilderness. 

Imagine the Africans were brought to America in a mercantile exchange by brave and heroic sea captains outfitted by wealthy traders on multiple continents leading the United States to grow powerful on sea and land. Sugar from Caribbean plantations was shipped to New England where rum was made and shipped to Africa to trade for Africans who were enslaved to produce cotton. Imagine those Africans were happy in the New World, fed and housed by kindly white plantation owners and loved like members of the family. They were encouraged to attend church every Sunday to learn about God’s plan and intention—for the superior white race to use the wealth that was being created to build cities, transportation networks, and new technologies to achieve their “Manifest Destiny” of domination over North America.

Sadly, this is the “history” of the United States that was taught with few exceptions through the 1960’s and in some areas and some schools is still taught today. It is the whitewashed version of history that mobs of angry parents are demanding to have back in their schools.  Parents who are afraid their children can’t handle the truth and will feel distressed if they realize that their ancestors enslaved others and built the wealth and privilege they now enjoy over centuries. These parents are encouraged and sometimes funded and led by right wing dark money PACS and think tanks. They are trying to make schools into political hot button issues to affect upcoming elections using false claims that “critical race theory,” a theory studied by university scholars, is being used in public K-12 schools to shame white children. Oh, and that wearing masks or requiring vaccinations is impinging on their freedom to die of a deadly disease or be allowed to freely spread it.

Time for a little fact checking. Most Native Americans tried to get along with European colonists and wanted to trade with them, but the history of their treatment by the English, Spanish, and Americans is one of brutality, having their lands encroached upon and stolen, constant breaking of treaties, spread of deadly diseases, and efforts to simply wipe them out resulting in the death of as much as 90% of the indigenous population in a couple hundred years.

Captured and enslaved Africans were cruelly separated from their homelands, tribes and families and literally sold to the highest bidder and often worked to death and punished with beatings, whippings, or lynched if they dared to attempt escape or openly resist. Our Constitution protected the enslavement of black human beings and granted political power to southern states where their so-called human property could be counted as 3/5ths of a person to give them more seats in Congress and protect the “peculiar institution” of slavery, as it was known. 

In the imaginary history of our right wing fellow citizens, any residual effects of slavery on the lives of African Americans that lingered after the Civil War were magically completely dispelled by the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts in the 1960’s. Of course that’s a fantasy, and there are countless examples from around the country of discrimination remaining in place in schools, workplaces, and housing; not to mention acts of violence including lynching by white citizens against blacks. Discrimination, brutality and even murder of blacks by police are well documented right into the present.

I did my best in elementary school classrooms in Clendenin and Charleston from 1987-2012 to help students reckon with the truth of our history while also exposing them to the many aspects of America that rightfully fill us with pride. In my experience, it was not the white students who were most affected emotionally by learning about some of the darker periods of our history—generally they wanted to know why inequality continues into the present day and what could be done to solve it. It was the black students who were the most affected, as some for the first time learned how badly their ancestors were treated and wondered why even today, as they no doubt heard from their families or witnessed themselves, they continue to face discrimination because of the color of their skin.

Apple or Bomb? Your Choice on November 8

It’s easier to compare apples to apples. One apple is green, crisp, tart; the other red, juicy, sweet. It’s harder to compare apples to oranges. But how do you compare an apple to a bomb? 

In this election, how will you compare a politician who has spent her career working to improve the lives of children and families with a wealthy businessman and reality TV star.

Donald Trump is a self-proclaimed multi-billionaire who grew his inheritance by making deals that he acknowledges have benefited him while often fleecing others. Trump University, being sued in three class action suits, is described as “a straight up fraud” by the Attorney General of NY. 

Trump refuses to release his tax returns, so we assume he is hiding something. Is it that he pays little or no income tax? Are many of his businesses supported by foreign investors with questionable integrity? Many have speculated that it is his business interests in Russia that drive his admiration for their authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin. Newsweek recently reported after extensive research that “If Donald Trump wins this election and his company is not immediately shut down or forever severed from the Trump family, the foreign policy of the United States of America could well be for sale.”

Trump claims he “is the least racist person you will ever meet.” Yet he has consistently made racist statements about Latinos and Muslims, and his first foray into politics was based on the allegation that Barack Obama was not born in America, an accusation that African Americans correctly interpret as a racist effort to delegitimize the first African American President of the United States. He recently retracted it under pressure from his campaign managers who are trying to make him more palatable to mainstream voters. Avowed racists and white nationalists recognize him as one of their own, however, and have been enthusiastically endorsing and campaigning for him.

PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize winning fact checker, has rated 70% of his claims in this campaign as mostly false, false, or “pants on fire.”

It’s hard for the media to stop talking about Trump (hard for me, too!) because he’s so outrageous and skilled at bringing attention to himself. Just minutes after playing clips of Clinton referring to Trump and no clips about the policies that comprised the bulk of her speech, an MSNBC anchor asked, “Why doesn’t she talk more about policy?”

In the recent NBC National Security Town Hall, Clinton had to spend half her time explaining the complexities of her e-mails as Secretary of State, a controversy created by the wasteful House Republican investigation into Benghazi.  Added to endless Whitewater investigation against her and her husband in the nineties that ended up uncovering nothing except a man who lied about his infidelity, Republicans have succeeded in creating the perception that the Clintons are dishonest. If she were the liar her critics claim, somewhere in the eleven hours of Benghazi testimony or the hours of FBI grilling there would have been cause for a perjury claim.  PolitiFact has ranked 72% of her campaign claims as true, mostly true, or half true. Remember, Trump: 70% falsehoods. How do you like them apples?  

But let’s talk policy! There are many reasons to vote for Hillary Clinton besides saving the nation and the world from the turmoil of a Trump presidency. With eight years of steady leadership by President Obama, we have recovered from the Great Recession. We just learned 2015 median wages increased by a stunning 5%! Hillary Clinton plans to increase the job growth we have enjoyed the last 6 1/2 years through a variety of proposals, including increased spending on desperately needed infrastructure projects: roads, bridges, clean energy, high tech. She will work to raise the minimum wage, fight for equal pay and guaranteed family leave, child care and housing for those who need assistance. She will work to improve and expand the Affordable Care Act to cover more Americans and keep health care costs down. 

Unlike her opponent who makes up policies on the fly and makes false claims about the effects they will have on jobs and the economy, Hillary Clinton has devised her proposals over the last year with many top experts, including Bernie Sanders. Go to hillaryclinton.com/issues to read her proposals, including a highly detailed fact sheet outlining how she will invest billions revitalizing coal communities.

West Virginians are struggling. Democrats in our state government have not provided the leadership needed to move our economy forward in a declining coal market, so many have decided to give Republicans a try. Like their national counterparts, however, they spread divisiveness, attack worker’s rights, want tax cuts for the wealthy, and starve needed government programs. Historically, under Democratic presidents, the economy improves for working people and those on the margins more than under Republicans, whose policies favor the wealthy. That’s why I’m excited about a President Hillary Clinton. She may not be the “apple of your eye,” but she’s not the poisonous fruit some portray her to be, nor the time bomb that is the alternative.

An Impossible Task

In 1990 after my third year as an elementary school classroom teacher, I attended a 4 week intensive "Invitation Summer Institute" led by Dr. Fran Simone of the WV Writing Project. I eventually became involved in the leadership of that group and in the National Writing Project. Along with 39 others, I was asked to write an essay about my NWP experience to celebrate the 40th summer of holding these summer programs, which started in Berkeley, CA and spread around the country. They published my essay today: http://our.nwp.org/ Here it is:

I (along with 39 others) was asked to contribute 500-1000 words summing up what NWP means to me. I’m not sure I could do it in a book length piece, though maybe I could do it in a haiku:

Young struggling teacher

Lifted by Summer Institute

Retired Director

No, doesn’t come close. Okay, who is my audience? Is it young teachers entering the profession, floundering as I once did? Feeling overwhelmed, small, under a microscope, everyone expecting that college and student teaching has created a professional who knows the answers, but finding that it’s not as easy as it looks, and that these eager or bored or angry or sad or hurting or confused faces cannot be fooled; they know when you are confident and when you are uncertain, and they crave your certainty, your control, they want you to have all the answers, to make it easy for them, and ultimately you learn you’re all in the same boat, learning together, but the lessons are painful and lead to sleepless nights.

What can I tell the young teacher attending a summer institute for the first time—that it’s never completely under control? To have ideals, but not hold yourself to them? To understand that if you’re doing the best you can, that’s good enough? To try to create community? To listen to students, especially the ones who are the most difficult? To give everyone a voice? To write, write, write, and share, share, share? To understand that there will always be far too many demands and expectations, objectives, and content standards, and that schoolwide, districtwide, nationwide goals will come and go and ultimately you should strive to make your classroom a place where learning takes place most of the time? It sounds somewhat defeatist; but it was my Truth. And every student I have met years later has smiled when she asked, Do you remember me? Yes, even the young man last week who was picking up the garbage can from my driveway.

Or am I speaking to the NWP veteran? The Director who has spent a career in the university setting and was asked to take on this extra project and found it taking over his life and career, guiding his research, pushing him toward leadership, management, budgeting, administrative roles he never envisioned. Or am I speaking to the classroom teacher who found a home in her local writing project with like minded teachers who supported each other as writers, who listened to and responded to each other’s stories of divorce, deaths, and illnesses, of births and embarrassing moments, of likes, dislikes, travel stories, fantasy, or poetry. Who got asked and answered, Yes, and found, as I did, it was not like at school where you learned that saying yes could lead you to doing other people’s jobs, to jealousies or politics, to uncomfortable positions making presentations of new strategies or curriculum that someone else decided was best for your school or district or was purchased from a textbook company and you were to follow the script and tell others to be true to the Program. Somehow the writing project was different; the teachers were working together, supporting each other, asking questions, exploring new methods that they truly believed in, and….what is it, what’s so different about this? Oh! They’re listening to ME! They think I have ideas worth listening to! These amazing teachers who have so much to teach me think I have value? I’ve never heard that before! Yes! I will present my classroom demonstration at that workshop; I will help write that grant; I will attend that national meeting. Oh my goodness, here are these amazingly smart people from all over the country, and they all listen to each other, they all work together, they all write, they all ask questions, none of them claims to have all the answers! Yes, I’ll serve on a national committee; are you kidding? You want me, an elementary school teacher to co-direct the Rural Sites Network? Yes, I’ll write an article, participate in a study. Just say yes became my rule of thumb when it came to NWP.

Only when I saw my local writing project in danger did I say no to NWP. No, I can’t right now, I have to lead at the local level. And that was truly the hardest work, at least for me. How can anyone ask busy teachers to do more? And how can an outsider really operate in a university? But those are simply questions, the answers are, in the end simple: It’s never completely under control.  Have ideals, but don’t hold yourself to them. Understand that if you’re doing the best you can, that’s good enough. Try to create community. Listen to the teachers, especially the ones who are the most difficult. Give everyone a voice. Write, write, write, and share, share, share. Understand that there will always be far too many demands and expectations. Oh, I left out one important ingredient…celebrate success! Congratulations on 40 years of changing the lives of teachers through holding Summer Institutes and improving teaching and learning throughout the world, NWP!

Superhero With Autism Wins WV Young Writers Contest

"Never accept something as a disability, look at it as a special superpower that makes you unique!" Sawyer Hiinton, 3rd Grade

Friday, May 9, was West Virginia Young Writers Day, as Director of the Central WV Writing Project (CWVWP), I was in charge of the WV Young Writers Contest and the celebration day. The Governor had signed a proclamation proclaiming Young Writers Day statewide. It was read from the stage of the University of Charleston (WV), a small institution on the bank of the Kanawha River opposite the WV State Capitol, by Madame Secretary of Education and the Arts Kay Goodwin, followed by a few remarks from the Superintendent of Schools for the state of WV, Dr. James B. Phares. After a morning keynote speech and a couple songs by the editor of Goldenseal Magazine and award winning songwriter, John Lilly, who talked about his writing life and the need to write honestly, the students attended workshops with regional authors of children's literature Belinda Anderson, Marie Godby, and Cheryl Ware. The high school seniors had a writing workshop with Lilly, the teachers with writer and publisher Cat Pleska, and the families an activity with Dr. Elizabeth Campbell of Marshall University South Charleston campus, where CWVWP is housed.

After lunch, nearly 200 students from grades 1-12 who were winners in their divisions at the county level made a grand procession into the theater to the applause of about 450 family members and teachers. The six first place winners, five girls and a third grade boy, came to the stage and sat in chairs behind the lectern. They would read their stories aloud and receive medals and cash awards before all two hundred of the county winner were called to the stage to receive certificates and shake my hand as we smiled for the cameras. 

I looked over the crowd and began speaking, "Isn’t it wonderful to see these young writers receive applause for the achievement of communicating their ideas in writing. The stereotypical writer toils in isolation, struggling silently and often fearing rejection from fickle readers, publishers who are concerned about making money, and demanding critics, yet writing does not have to be that way. Reading and writing take us outside ourselves to other times and places, take us inside ourselves to ponder life’s meaning; they can help us understand the world and ourselves. I don’t know how these students were encouraged to write their stories and essays, but in a few moments you are going to hear a tale of a magical house,  a humorous yarn about secret agent squirrels, a beautifully descriptive and poignant piece about a West Virginian’s sorrowful goodbye to her mountain home, an experience many West Virginian’s have shared. You will be taken back in time to one of humanities’ worst periods, during the 2^nd World War, and into the tortured mind of a Jewish man, a father, suffering persecution during the Holocaust. The winner of the 11^th -12^th grade division will read her essay that attempts, no succeeds, in explaining something fundamental about the purpose of life, despite the acknowledgement that we inevitably grow old and die, if we live long enough. 

"Perhaps the most remarkable of all the pieces you will hear today is one written by a very special young man from Mingo County, Sawyer Hinton. Sawyer is autistic, and I am breaking no confidence in telling you that, because Sawyer takes you inside his mind in his writing, a place where he spends much of his time, and after reading Sawyer’s description of what it is like to live with autism, I had a new understanding and appreciation of this condition, and you will too.

"As I said, I don’t know how these students came to be such fine writers, how all of you who won your school and county contests were encouraged to become writers. But I hope that it was a joyful experience, not a lonely one. Great teachers of writing are able to create a community of writers in their classrooms, communities that will encourage all students to express themselves honestly and creatively, no matter their skill level, no matter their intelligence, no matter their abilities or their struggles, and in that community everyone will feel valued and encouraged and will be willing to do the hard work of writing, rewriting, revising, and polishing their work until it shines. And that great teacher will then make sure the work is read by others and listened to, because the act of writing is an act of communication, and the great teacher will make sure that every student hears the applause they deserve, as you heard the applause today. And now, before we hear from our first place winners, how about if we give a round of applause to all the teachers and families who encouraged our young writers….Thank you." 

The winner of the grades 1-2 division was cute and did very well reading her  fantasy about a magic house. And then Sawyer Hinton, the third grade statewide winner of the grade 3-4 contest, from Mingo County, one of the poorest counties in the nation, got up to read his award winning piece. I announced, “The1st place winner in grades 3-4 division is Sawyer Hinton, 3rd grade. He goes to Lenore PreK-8 in Mingo County. The title of his essay is “Superhero Without a Cape.” His teacher is Peggy Hannah. Sawyer approached the microphone and read,

“Did you know that not all superheroes wear a cape?  I have a superpower that makes me very special.  I am completely different from every other 8 year old that I know.  The thing that I call my super power is what most people call Autism. I know that it is normally seen as a disability. But I look at it in a different light. I would much rather call it a special ability. Autism allows me to process everything in the world around me differently than the average child. My family has helped me cope with my diagnosis. So hopefully after reading my story, you will discover that there are superheroes all around you. They just don’t wear capes.  

I have been called some really ugly names for being different. But being peculiar is just who I am.  I want to explain how you could always turn a disability into a superpower by just looking at things in a different way. Take my obsessiveness of order routine for example.  Most people consider that a disability.  I, on the other hand, just think that I am more organized than everyone else.  Now doesn’t that sound more positive by just changing the words? I prefer to be alone most of the time. But I really have more time to think, read and dream.  I come around people in my own time and at my own pace. Is that not how most people get to know one another? I just take a little longer. My brain is larger than normal. Seems to me that is a positive trait. I have room to learn more.  One of the stigmas placed on people like me is that we are mentally retarded. That could not be farther from the truth. I am a genius when it comes to certain things. Putting what I know on the outside is what I struggle with. However, the ability to retain information by just hearing or reading it once is definitely a perk.  So, has it become more apparent that I am super special?  I cannot bear the thought of certain textures, smells, tastes and things that have to do with sensory perception. Guess I am just set in my ways. But isn’t every single person that way? I am a little extreme but still not disabled.

I have not mentioned all the quirky things that I do. But what superhero reveals all his secrets?  I just hope that I can make a difference to someone else like me.  I urge you to take the time to look at the things that make you different and embrace them. Never accept something as a disability, look at it as a special superpower that makes you unique! Hopefully now you can see the superheroes living all around you."

The audience erupted in strong applause, which built and built. People began to stand and the applause continued. I stood behind the lectern and watched as the whole audience began to rise to their feet. Tears come to my eyes as I recount this moment, probably the most powerful moment of my teaching career. This is what it's all about, I thought. This is what it's all about. 

I've been e-mailing the parents and learned they took video. I hope to have it soon. I warned the father that putting this out on the web might change their lives, that, it's possible that if the story got big, for awhile he and his wife might become parents similar to those who travel around with a child who is a sports star, an actor or beauty contestant, and the father wrote this,  "It was an amazing experience! Thank you all for acknowledging how difficult it was to share something so personal. Writing and sharing it was hard but it was also an avenue of escape and release for him. He said even if he helps one child like him then it was worth it."

My 2-Day Diet Progress Week 27, May 11, 2014 

Beginning weight 11/3/13: 209 lbs.

Height 5'8" Age: 62

Goal weight: 165 lbs.

Total loss goal: 44 lbs.

Beginning waist size: 43 in.

Current waist size: 38 in.

Weight end of this week:  179 lbs.

Gain/Loss this week:  +1 lbs.

Total Gain/Loss:  -30 lbs.

From Mingo County, WV: Superhero With Autism

PLEASE GO TO UPDATED VERSION OF THIS POST HERE

*2 Day Diet Progress at end

Friday, May 9 was West Virginia Young Writers Day, as Director of the Central WV Writing Project (CWVWP), I was in charge of the WV Young Writers Contest and the celebration day. The Governor had signed a proclamation proclaiming Young Writers Day statewide (I had sent his office the ‘whereas’ section of the proclamation). It was read from the stage of the University of Charleston (WV), a small institution on the bank of the Kanawha River opposite the WV State Capitol, by Madame Secretary of Education and the Arts Kay Goodwin, followed by a few remarks from the Superintendent of Schools for the state of WV, Dr. James B. Phares. After a morning keynote speech and a couple songs by the editor of Goldenseal Magazine and award winning songwriter, John Lilly, who talked about his writing life and the need to write honestly, the students attended workshops with regional authors of children's literature Belinda Anderson, Marie Godby, and Cheryl Ware. The high school seniors had a writing workshop with Lilly, the teachers with writer and publisher Cat Pleska, and the families an activity with Dr. Elizabeth Campbell of Marshall University South Charleston campus, where CWVWP is housed.

After lunch, nearly 200 students from grades 1-12 who were winners in their divisions at the county level made a grand procession into the theater to the applause of about 450 family members and teachers. The six first place winners, five girls and a third grade boy, came to the stage and sat in chairs behind the lectern. They would read their stories aloud and receive medals and cash awards before all two hundred of the county winner were called to the stage to receive certificates and shake my hand as we smiled for the cameras. 

I looked over the crowd and began speaking, "Isn’t it wonderful to see these young writers receive applause for the achievement of communicating their ideas in writing. The stereotypical writer toils in isolation, struggling silently and often fearing rejection from fickle readers, publishers who are concerned about making money, and demanding critics, yet writing does not have to be that way. Reading and writing take us outside ourselves to other times and places, take us inside ourselves to ponder life’s meaning; they can help us understand the world and ourselves. I don’t know how these students were encouraged to write their stories and essays, but in a few moments you are going to hear a tale of a magical house,  a humorous yarn about secret agent squirrels, a beautifully descriptive and poignant piece about a West Virginian’s sorrowful goodbye to her mountain home, an experience many West Virginian’s have shared. You will be taken back in time to one of humanities’ worst periods, during the 2^nd World War, and into the tortured mind of a Jewish man, a father, suffering persecution during the Holocaust. The winner of the 11^th -12^th grade division will read her essay that attempts, no succeeds, in explaining something fundamental about the purpose of life, despite the acknowledgement that we inevitably grow old and die, if we live long enough. 

"Perhaps the most remarkable of all the pieces you will hear today is one written by a very special young man from Mingo County, Sawyer Hinton. Sawyer is autistic, and I am breaking no confidence in telling you that, because Sawyer takes you inside his mind in his writing, a place where he spends much of his time, and after reading Sawyer’s description of what it is like to live with autism, I had a new understanding and appreciation of this condition, and you will too.

"As I said, I don’t know how these students came to be such fine writers, how all of you who won your school and county contests were encouraged to become writers. But I hope that it was a joyful experience, not a lonely one. Great teachers of writing are able to create a community of writers in their classrooms, communities that will encourage all students to express themselves honestly and creatively, no matter their skill level, no matter their intelligence, no matter their abilities or their struggles, and in that community everyone will feel valued and encouraged and will be willing to do the hard work of writing, rewriting, revising, and polishing their work until it shines. And that great teacher will then make sure the work is read by others and listened to, because the act of writing is an act of communication, and the great teacher will make sure that every student hears the applause they deserve, as you heard the applause today. And now, before we hear from our first place winners, how about if we give a round of applause to all the teachers and families who encouraged our young writers….Thank you." 

The winner of the grades 1-2 division was cute and did very well reading her  fantasy about a magic house. And then Sawyer Hinton, the third grade statewide winner of the grade 3-4 contest, from Mingo County, one of the poorest counties in the nation, got up to read his award winning piece. I announced, “The1st place winner in grades 3-4 division is Sawyer Hinton, 3rd grade. He goes to Lenore PreK-8 in Mingo County. The title of his essay is “Superhero Without a Cape.” His teacher is Peggy Hannah. Sawyer approached the microphone and read,

“Did you know that not all superheroes wear a cape?  I have a superpower that makes me very special.  I am completely different from every other 8 year old that I know.  The thing that I call my super power is what most people call Autism. I know that it is normally seen as a disability. But I look at it in a different light. I would much rather call it a special ability. Autism allows me to process everything in the world around me differently than the average child. My family has helped me cope with my diagnosis. So hopefully after reading my story, you will discover that there are superheroes all around you. They just don’t wear capes.  

I have been called some really ugly names for being different. But being peculiar is just who I am.  I want to explain how you could always turn a disability into a superpower by just looking at things in a different way. Take my obsessiveness of order routine for example.  Most people consider that a disability.  I, on the other hand, just think that I am more organized than everyone else.  Now doesn’t that sound more positive by just changing the words? I prefer to be alone most of the time. But I really have more time to think, read and dream.  I come around people in my own time and at my own pace. Is that not how most people get to know one another? I just take a little longer. My brain is larger than normal. Seems to me that is a positive trait. I have room to learn more.  One of the stigmas placed on people like me is that we are mentally retarded. That could not be farther from the truth. I am a genius when it comes to certain things. Putting what I know on the outside is what I struggle with. However, the ability to retain information by just hearing or reading it once is definitely a perk.  So, has it become more apparent that I am super special?  I cannot bear the thought of certain textures, smells, tastes and things that have to do with sensory perception. Guess I am just set in my ways. But isn’t every single person that way? I am a little extreme but still not disabled.

I have not mentioned all the quirky things that I do. But what superhero reveals all his secrets?  I just hope that I can make a difference to someone else like me.  I urge you to take the time to look at the things that make you different and embrace them. Never accept something as a disability, look at it as a special superpower that makes you unique! Hopefully now you can see the superheroes living all around you."

The audience erupted in strong applause, which built and built. People began to stand and the applause continued. I stood behind the lectern and watched as the whole audience began to rise to their feet. Tears come to my eyes as I recount this moment, probably the most powerful moment of my teaching career. This is what it's all about, I thought. This is what it's all about. 

I've been e-mailing the parents and learned they took video. I hope to have it soon. I warned the father that putting this out on the web might change their lives, that, it's possible that if the story got big, for awhile he and his wife might become parents similar to those who travel around with a child who is a sports star, an actor or beauty contestant, and the father wrote this,  "It was an amazing experience! Thank you all for acknowledging how difficult it was to share something so personal. Writing and sharing it was hard but it was also an avenue of escape and release for him. He said even if he helps one child like him then it was worth it."

My 2-Day Diet Progress Week 27, May 11, 2014 

Beginning weight 11/3/13: 209 lbs.

Height 5'8" Age: 62

Goal weight: 165 lbs.

Total loss goal: 44 lbs.

Beginning waist size: 43 in.

Current waist size: 38 in.

Weight end of this week:  179 lbs.

Gain/Loss this week:  +1 lbs.

Total Gain/Loss:  -30 lbs.