Donna Swagerty Shreve
2014
A picture on the front of our local paper sent my memory back 18 years. I was teaching seventh grade math at Morada Middle School. Morada was very diverse with 17 different languages spoken in the homes of the students. I have had thousands of students over my 38 years of teaching. Some of those students stand out in my memory due to several elements.
This student stuck out as he represented to me how helpless I felt as a teacher for a student who needs that couldn’t be solved in a classroom. Even at 12 years old, he had unusual looks. He was considered a black person but he was quite light and had piecing blue eyes. His “friends” teased him constantly because he didn’t look like everyone else. Jeremy had another strike against him as his attendance was quite spotty. Our team of seventh grade teachers, who all shared him, had tried on several occasions, in vain, to contact his mother. I don’t think we knew of a father.
One day stands out as it represented a typical incident involving Jeremy. It was test day and Jeremy had shown up. I detested setting up a student for failure and Jeremy was going nowhere in school or in my math class. My math class was taught with hands-on materials and those tools were always available for tests. As soon as I had passed out the tests to the class, Jeremy quickly raised his hand and asked for help. This was a usual pattern from Jeremy on test day.
Jeremy was sitting in the back of the class and I could help him and monitor the class at the same time. I figured helping Jeremy was a rare opportunity to actually teach him something. I never was able to get him to stay after school for one on one instruction.
On this same day I had a visitor. She was a student in my California State University at Stanislaus class where I taught probationary teachers how to teach elementary math. I had told them they could visit my classes at any time. Unfortunately she had chosen a day where I was testing. I told her she could see my class set up and observe the students taking the test as they had the choice of using various tools if they chose. She became much more interested in my working with Jeremy in the back of the room.
This student asked me if she could share her observations with the class. I consented and these are her observations: Jeremy actually snuggled up to Mrs. Shreve. His nearest arm connected from his elbow to shoulder with Mrs. Shreve. He almost climbed into her lap.
My recollection of this incident was that he seemed extra needy and I consciously relaxed my body so he would not experience resistance or rejection. I succeeded to get him to understand a few problems on the test and he felt happy because he had experienced a bit of success and I had succeeded because he had learned a bit. He never seemed to be there when the tests were returned so I don’t remember ever having to watch his disappointment at his failing grades. I believe I never actually passed back any of his tests. I am also guessing failure was not a stranger to him and success would have been difficult for him to accept.
Now jump forward 18 years and I am reading the front page of the paper. There is a grown version of Jeremy with his piercing blue eyes and light skin staring out from his mug shot. I suspected it was the same Jeremy all those 18 years ago. I did the math and knew if it was him he would have been 12 and that added up to 30 which is Jeremy’s current age.
Over the years I have seen various students in the paper for good, bad and tragic news. Now it was Jeremy’s turn. The irony this time is that Jeremy’s mug shot went throughout the world via the social networks. He was now being given attention because of his “hot” looks. Those same looks, which had gotten him teased in his childhood were making him a sensation. He now had a tattooed tear drop by one eye and gang signs all over his neck. He was a convicted felon and had already served a nine-year sentence. He was caught in a car with fellow known gang members with various heavy-duty weapons while on parole.
His absent mother is now getting her 15 minutes of fame as she claims he is really a good person and has given up his gang life. A fund has been set up to help with his bail. Bail is not going to happen as bail has been set at one million dollars. Offers from a few agencies are wanting to have him as their client as they want to take advantage of his unusual appearance. Jeremy is also married and has a young child. I saw his career in prison coming all those years ago and was helpless to do much. The best I could do was provide a non judgmental teaching experience for the few times he did show up.
2016
The newspaper had a big article on Jeremy on page 3. He has just been released from his 18 months in jail. Modeling companies have lined up to lure him to their contract. He will now be modeling and cashing in on his looks. I wonder if I will soon read a follow up story about how he is doing in his new career.
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