What is Community in NOLA Schools? by Mikayla Sanford

Day 5, NOLA

Community in NOLA schools is a term with a thousand and one different meanings. Community is the locals that live and breathe the culture here and the ones who just arrived. They were here before the storm and they remain after the storm. It is the Veteran teachers and the first year TFA teachers. Parents of kids in private schools and coaches who act as mentors, therapists, fathers, sex ed. teachers and counselors.

Community is passion that pumps the blood through the school system and out again. It is the business CEO's at chase bank that filter the money in and out of Andre Perry's pin striped pockets. It is the principals and board members and regional directors who sit in board rooms and enact five year plans. Community is the flood waters that took the place of children in school hallways. The water that washed away textbooks, desks, pencils, and the people that came back to pick up the pieces. It is anyone and everyone that ever thought about what rebuilding means for such a rich and diverse and left behind area.

Community is the land and the culture and the people and the history of is and all that will ever be NOLA. It is the Children. The children who study and take tests and take care of their brothers and sisters and cook meals and work three jobs and spend four hours on the bus each day getting to and from school. It is the hope and fear and passion that comes from sitting in the classroom connecting with others to discover what it means to rebuild this thing we call education.