Mexico, Friends, and Schools

Monday, July 6th
After crashing in Alexandria, Virginia and I sat around for a while and drank some coffee. After a relaxing and enjoyable morning I took the Metro into Chinatown to meet Norm for some Texas style BBQ at Capital Q for lunch. After some good eats (it’s still not Memphis Style) I went over to the National Portrait Gallery to get some case study prep work done.

The Portrait Gallery was totally renovated about three years ago and I believe it’s the most underrated of all the Smithsonian Museums in DC. They have an “open air” café in the center of the museum that is perfect for a quiet lunch or in my case getting some work done. One feature of the renovation was putting a wave like glass roof over the inner courtyard of the museum. It’s all natural light yet enclosed so you get sunlight and air conditioning, an ice combination for sure. I worked for about three hours prepping for a case study called, “Mexico at the Crossroads”, that contains a debate scenario component for the students. The case study was put together through Brown University’s Choices Program. The fact that it’s the first time our program has used this material coupled with my general lack of expertise in Mexican History required double my usual prep time.

After I finished up with class prep I strolled over to the fountain area of the Sculpture Garden off of Independence and 7th streets to take advantage of the beautiful day. I joined numerous others in dangling my feet in the cool water of the fountain and napped for about an hour. After waking up I walked to Georgetown, grabbed a quick beer, and took the bus back to campus. I sat in on Mr. Eagles’ econ class and then spent the rest of the evening taking care of chores and getting an early start on sleep.

Tuesday, July 7th

The class and subsequent debate went very well. After lunch I took a quick nap and then got ready for our trip to the Mexican Embassy. We were lucky enough to not only get to see the Embassy but we spent the evening with the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan. The students were extremely impressed by his speaking and diplomatic skills. He spoke and answered questions on a wide variety of topics. The mornings’ class was perfect preparation for the evening. Both the Ambassador and the Embassy staff were gracious hosts.

Wednesday, July 8th
You know that sunny day that starts with an hour and half walk through DC is going to be a pleasant day. There would be no teaching or chaperoning duties this day. I went up to Bill and Amanda house to watch Isabella, she napped the entire time, and cook some dinner. After the two of them got back from running errands we enjoyed by hanging out and just catching up. Little Isabella “helped” me cook dinner. OK, she mostly watched and ate little pepperonis but it was still fun. I made a chicken pasta dish with pepperoni and olives with a side of prosciutto wrapped asparagus. Bragging a little here, but it was good! I ALWAYS enjoy an evening with Bill, Mandy, and their ever growing family.

Thursday, July 9th
The day was spent running errands and relaxing. I did sit on the afternoon speaker, Susan Schaeffler, founder of KIPP DC. She gave an energy packed talk about the state of public education and what KIPP schools are all about. I am relatively familiar with these schools because a good friend from college used to a principal of the first KIPP elementary school in Houston, TX(Article about my friend). Aaron, like Mrs. Schaeffler, was an alum of Teach for America. The results of both of these programs are remarkable. I feel especially proud because I have a number of former students from my SBA days that are now in the two year TFA program. KIPP is a fantastic program that is having fantastic results in parts of the country where frankly many people have sadly written off the population. It still baffles me how talent and resources are almost ignored in so many urban and rural schools in America.