School of Two Thousand Smiles–Chapter Twenty Two

SAM - COHORT SHARES HOLIDAY EXPERIENCES

After the Thanksgiving break, everyone, even Evie, seemed eager to share their holiday experiences. As sharing slowed, Joe Jackson asked, “Sam, would you accept that guy, Bruno Norse, into Smiles?” Before Sam could answer. A chorus of moans, no’s, nevers, and so on, erupted.

I answered, “Joe, that’s an interesting question, and I did some research on it.  A few years ago, the mother inquired about having the boy and his younger sister enroll in one of our sister schools, and when she was told that both parents would need to attend a six-week orientation class and agree to our code of kindness and support of their child and of other students, she withdrew her request for enrollment. After meeting the couple, I’m sure the mother was quite happy to drop the whole idea. In our meeting, she told our school police officer that she did not know her well enough for her to call her by her first name. You can imagine how she would get along with everyone in our program.”

Joe responded, “Well, how in hell can we have peace in our town and even in the whole damn world, if some parents won’t agree to be kind to their very own children?” I heard some giggles, and Joe added, “I’m serious.” 

Evie immediately responded, “I really liked the way you included the whole world in your question. After I talked about our school at our Thanksgiving dinner, my uncle said our teachers must be a bunch of sissy dreamers. Then he sounded kind of serious and asked if we really learned anything. He said, ‘It sounds like you can just do any damn thing you want to do in that school of yours.” It really made me mad, but I kept my temper and told him about the success of our school graduates.“ Evie got a nice round of applause.

Joe continued to engage Evie by asking, “Evie, how is it going with your mom and dad and their marriage? You haven’t told us anything about them for months.”

Evie responded, “They are working on it, and they are seeing a couple who work together as Marriage Counselors. And I have decided I will be okay no matter what they decide. And Joe, thank you for asking. It is, of course, confidential, and I see all of you as my support people, so, well, thanks to all of you. And Ella, I was thinking about you with your altercation with that Bruno bastard and his buddies. Do you still want more variety in your life?” It seemed everyone in our cohort nodded and muttered, “Yeah.”

I said, “Before you answer, Ella, I’d like to say, Evie, good for you, and your parents. And Evie, and Joe, I know you are serious - Joe about the future of human welfare and how it is connected to how we raise our children. I wish I had an answer. I’ve thought a lot about it, and keep in mind that I think everything is evolving, and that it will take at least several generations of schools like Two Thousand Smiles all over the world. I understand that schools in Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden, have programs like Thousand Smiles. Now, why don’t each of us share our own family experience? I’ll go first.” I put my hand above my eyes and looked around our circle like I was searching for something, and then added, “I believe I’m the only one.” I heard a bunch of giggles and guffaws.  “As a father of one toddler and a newborn baby, I first see each one of them as a person who is special.  Even as small as they are, I believe they are a ‘Thou’ – remember me talking about Martin Buber’s philosophy on that?” Several students nodded, and I think the majority of our cohort is open to the I-Thou concept. 

Olivia, in her stumbling way of talking, said, “I know that my parents loved me like that Buber guy talks about, but I think they are still mad at God for creating me a cripple. But I’m sure that I’m here for the same reason everyone is and that I’m with all of you, and learning a lot about being a loving person.” We all clapped and loudly talked over and around one another as we said we were glad she was here with us, too.  

Joe Jackson said, “In the school I was in for the first three grades, we didn’t have any kids with palsy or other physical handicap, but we had a bunch who had mental handicaps and were mean as hell and hated people like me with dark skin. I think that is kind of a handicap, too. And we had a president who was handicapped.”

 Chris jumped in, “Oh, Joe, you have darker skin? I thought you just carried a shadow around with you.” He had a big grin on his face, and he got a few laughs and groans. 

Joe continued, “And I wonder if having a dumb sense of humor is a handicap, Chris.” We continued sharing and bantering with one another and enjoying each other's company. Before we ended our Monday cohort session, I asked how many students wanted to play on our cohort’s basketball team. Both boys and girls would be on the same team. Everyone except Debbie Ma, Gordo, and Olivia wanted to be on the team. I volunteered to be our team's coach, which would be a first.

Later, I told the team that we would practice for 90 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Fridays we’d play the other 5th. grade team or perhaps the fourth or sixth grade. We looked pretty good as we put these four boys together with the three girls. The ‘we’ consisted of a young woman who had played basketball in both high school and college and even had done some coaching. She was Evie’s mother's sister. She was amazed at how respectful the boys were toward the girls and generally toward everyone. She had attended what I called an old-fashioned school, where she had put up with all kinds of bullying and insults. She didn’t believe me when I said this was their usual way of being around one another.  She volunteered to help me coach the team, and I quickly made her the ‘head’ coach. By Christmas vacation, she was a ‘believer’ that the kids were ‘naturally’ kind and gentle with one another. She thought that when she had kids, she'd like them to go t Two Thousand Smiles.