Justice in a Classroom of Winners
F or us, justice is just putting people in jail but that is not all there is. Justice is to help us to care about how we are treated, and we all know that justice has to be equal in every nation.
The author is 12 years old. Two years ago, when her family immigrated to Los Angeles from Guatemala, Carin Vasquez knew but a few phrases in English.
Justice is of (sic) the words that we all have to respect because justice is a word that is contained in the Pledge of Allegiance. . . .
This year, the topic for the student essay contest sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Bar Assn. was “Justice for All and All for Justice.” Carin and several other sixth-graders at Oxford Street Elementary School in North Hollywood decided to enter. This isn’t surprising. Three years ago, teacher Arlene Delaney hit upon an idea: motivating students by entering competitions sponsored by community groups and publications.
We need to think about how can we make justice the right way. . . . We make justice by respecting rights of others. We hope to treat equally all people regardless of race, color or religion. . . .
Inside Delaney’s classroom, the contests Carin and her classmates have entered are listed chronologically on posters above the blackboard, from No. 1 through No. 105 and still counting. Several students have entered all 105 contests, from the most serious to the most frivolous. Delaney’s students have been winners, from first place to honorable mention, in 39. Nearly every student has won at least once.
This week, it’s Carin’s turn.
*
How nice it is to see a classroom filled with enthusiasm--to hear Moises Hernandez say he wants to be a doctor, David Rosales talk about marine biology, Theresa Couch express a fascination for psychology. Amid all the trouble and low test scores in L.A.’s schools, it’s good to be reminded that dedicated teachers can still make a difference.
Alvaro Cortes, the Oxnard Street principal, says he once had misgivings about what seemed to be a teacher’s obsession with contests. Then he spent time in her classroom and understood how Delaney would, for example, use the American Medical Assn.’s “Say No to Joe Camel” anti-smoking essay and poster competition as a way to teach health, science, English and art.
“We’re not going to inspire the kids just with a textbook,” Delaney says. “It’s not going to cut it.”
The teacher finds contests wherever she can. Because Oxnard Street Elementary serves a low-income neighborhood, Sports Illustrated for Kids gives her class a free subscription. SI for Kids sponsors a monthly contest, naming 100 winners nationally. “Her classes always have had a winner. The entries are exceptional for the grade level,” says SI’s Tricia Leahy.
“I feel if you can foster pride and self-esteem in children, the learning process will accelerate,” Delaney says. Her students, she says, “are competitive and proud.”
The most important lesson the kids have learned, she says, is if you try, you might succeed.
*
A misunderstanding prompted my visit to this classroom. Delaney had called because a friend told her I’d written something about a limerick contest. Well, I told her, not exactly. What happened is that I’d penned a little verse bashing Assemblyman Pete Knight of Palmdale for distributing that racist, immigrant-bashing doggerel to fellow legislators. I’d mentioned my interest in the new Kingsley Tufts Poetry Prize and the $50,000 that comes with it. It thus became my duty to tell Delaney that the Tufts competition is intended more for established literary talents than sixth-graders.
Didn’t seem to matter to Delaney. She might have her kids enter anyway.
Susan Keating, executive director of the San Fernando Valley Bar Assn., says that Carin’s essay, regardless of its rough edges, was a final selection before judges read a note from Delaney explaining that the author had only started learning English two years earlier.
“When we got down to the nitty-gritty, when we learned she doesn’t even read English, we were astonished,” Keating said.
I hope that our justice system exists in our land for all people. . . . This will happen if we all work to maintain justice in this world. This is my most important thought of justice and people.
People like me believe that one day this dream will come true.
At a luncheon Friday, the Valley Bar association will present Carin with a $100 U.S. Savings Bond. Delaney plans to be there to watch her latest winner. Wouldn’t it be nice if a member of the Assembly distributes her essay?