Downstairs, not Upstairs

After a long day of meetings yesterday, I was eager to get into my classroom and prepare for students next week.  My goal was to go through old files and sort materials in order to pass some of them on to S, my replacement upstairs at Family Literacy.  The former teacher downstairs left me a wealth of materials and a very organized system of test booklets, answer sheets, and other necessary forms.  At some point, I need to decide what I can use from all of those files. 

I made phone calls to potential students.  I had a stack of student files from orientation and from last years' class.  As always, I hit dead ends.  "This number is no longer in service" was a phrase I heard at least four times out of the ten calls I made. Over the years, we have learned to ask for "message" numbers.  Sometimes it's a grandma, or a mother at work, or in one case the fiance of someone's brother.  I think I was able to reach just one or two students on my first try.  However, within a half hour, I received four returned calls with someone asking, "Did you call this number?"  Two of the students are just 16.  I know I talked to at least two mothers. 

My cell phone was not giving good reception so I unlocked the front door and stepped out on the sidewalk.  Immediately I was asked by a passer-by if the church that owns our building had any clothing to give away.  "I've just gotten out of jail and I have no clothes.  I need a hoodie or sweatshirt."   I said that there were no clothes there and suggested Hope Ministries or the Salvation Army--both of which I guess said they could see him next week.  Another pedestrian appeared and offered to take him to Goodwill.  That was a good thing because I was quite unsure of what else to recommend.  I could have given him a few dollars to buy something at Goodwill.

In any case, it's a good idea to keep our building doors locked.  So that was my first day preparing for my new class.  In two ways,  I encountered the poverty that is not a part of my life over the summer in my comfortable neighborhood.