This past school year that ended June 26th, 2018, was very exhausting for me. There are many reasons why this school year was not well for me. For instance, the school principal was not in the best mood all year-long. I feel that the principal was under pressure due to the change in school Chancellor, as well as internal pressure from the new PA president, Mr. Montenegro. Therefore, the principal pressured us, at what we already know how to do which is teach! Yet, that was not even .1% of my problems.

Mental Health

I am mentally exhausted. During a regular Friday during second period a student named John was saying he was saving to buy an iPhone 7 from Apple.com. However, I told him that he could have bought it from Amazon cheaper. He said, “Ok I will bring the $500 I have saved so far so you can help me buy it on Monday”, I said ok Monday then. That was the last time I ever saw John. When I went to work on Monday I see most people crying. Shortly after I found out that John passed away in a house fire overnight! That was devastating to me. I felt very sad and confused. Why is this world so cruel! Ultimately, I was able to move on and recuperate emotionally, though not sure about psychologically. Several weeks before the end of the school year, I another student passed away, this time stabbed on the chess after a fight. Damien Gilbert was stabbed on the chess by a coward who ran, while the police and paramedics let Damien die. EMT dropped him while putting him in the ambulance which caused a heart attack and death of an adolescent.

Conclusion

Two deaths, in addition to the death of my family members, that is the typical year of teacher, now that I think about it. Now I recalled, perhaps my mind suppressing it, last year a student passed away in the school when he collapsed, and we, CRP trained, could not revive, sadly. We tried to revive him but ultimately, he died right in front of us, on the floor while we were trying to bring him back. As teachers, we work hard to teach our students and to make a difference in very poor communities such as the Bronx. However, in the process, we create long-lasting relationships between students, and colleagues. Therefore, when this tragic situation happens, it affects us significantly. The public has no idea what happens inside the NYCDOE classroom!