inspires me everyday. He is the most positive person I know, making him the ideal person to teach in the poorest congretional district in America. He is not only the most positive person I know, but he is a walking encyclopedia brimming with knowledge, using his smarts to help others find theirs. However it's not his optimistic countenance or his beautiful brain that I fell in love with but rather it is his huge heart to serve. His heart pours out compassion everyday. It is this quality that I fell in love with when I would see him in his village in Guinea. It would make any woman melt to see a good looking man cradle African babies the way Adam does.I apologize, but since my husband is so humble, I am going to brag a little about him. Ok, maybe a lot.
Adam started his first day of teaching at MS 224 in the Bronx last Wednesday. I was able to go in to help him prepare his classroom before school starting. What I walked into was overwhelming for me. The school lay in the biggest mess, notebooks and file cabinets lining the halls, teachers being shuffled from room to room without even knowing what they were teaching yet, classrooms disheveled like an earthquake had hit. Adam's room was at the very end of a long hallway, room 338. Although his room was spacious the air conditioner was an aborted project when funds fell through. We worked for days under what seemed like a hurricane as the room fan would swivel its' head. At times it was counterproductive but we kept the fan for the relief it gave from the New York heat. My husband could sense my frustration in any situation and he always brings me back with three words, "Remember Guinea baby." After working in his classroom, I don't remember ever being more dirty, even after living in Africa. But there were never fans! Ah life would have been so different in a mud hut if there was such a contraption! I am grateful to have someone in my life who brings me back to all the things I learned during my Peace Corps service.
Today is his 3rd day of teaching. I look forward to drilling him when he gets home, imploring him for more stories of what happened at school. My favorites are usually his interactions with the recently immigrated West Africans. He is a math and Spanish teacher by contract, but he has taken on French translator to help his new students. Adam breathes this new life of his in everything he studies, in everything purchases, in everything he lives. His passion reignites what Guinea was for the both of us. A life of service.
Here is one of my favorite first day of school stories: Adam was going around the classroom, observing his students fill in their 3x5 flashcards, an icebreaker to help the students get to know each other. Adam noticed a female student of his with a blank space in the "favorite book" section of her flashcard. Another section of her flashcard read, "wants to make lots of money." Her excuse was she didn't like to read. Adam encouraged her by saying she could write down her favorite magazine. Her response did not waver, " I don't like to read." Adam bent down, saying to her in a kind of secretive voice, "You know, I noticed that you want to make lots of money. Reading can make you powerful! In fact, you need to read pretty well if you want to be powerful." At the end of the day, an English teacher brought an essay titled, "Goals for the Year" to Adam. It was an essay that the same girl that Adam spoke to a couple of periods prior had written. She wrote that she wants to become a better reader because Mr. Johnson said it would make her powerful.
