I am at the sink, arm-deep in a bucket of papier mache (my first time working with papier mache!), mixing and smoothing out the flour clumps. I notice that I am breathing deeply, and it occurs to me that art-making is like meditation for me.
After class I am standing in the hallway, reading a copy of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech (displayed alongside the kids' written tributes in honor of MLK day), and it reminds me very strongly of the lyrics of the finale in "Les Miserables". Most specifically: "They will live again in freedom / In the garden of the Lord. / They will walk behind the plough-share, / They will put away the sword. / The chain will be broken / And all men will have their reward." The line that usually gets me is "to love another person is to see the face of God." I've been wanting to share my ideas about God for a long time now, and maybe I will, sometime.
In the parking lot my Teaching Artist and I are talking about all the conversations we "overheard" (when the kids are engaged in art-making they converse freely, completely unobstructed by our presence that we're not even eavesdropping, even when they are talking about us). There was a group of girls talking about how their fathers beat them, and Mollie remarks on how the one girl who said her dad has never lain one finger on her was the exception, not the norm. In fact I was listening in on that conversation and imagined myself (at that age, maybe) joining in.
Mollie also mentioned how the school's administration admonished her for using the girls' bathroom (instead of getting the key for the teachers' bathroom). She didn't really understand until she googled the school and read the first article that came up. Apparently, two sixth grade boys raped a fourth grade girl in the stairwell. Since the incident (almost seven years ago), security became a lot tighter, and yeah. Depressing.
In Econ class I learned that an asset is "an existing form of capital that generates income". The next time somebody says something like "Check out her assets!", I thought, I would counter with "They're only assets if she's making money with them!" I promptly made that joke, later the same day. (Yeah, way nerdy, I know.)
Toward the end of lecture the professor tells us that all the "free market, no government involvement" people are stupid, because "functioning competitive market economies require strong government". I am strongly reminded of my post on what it means to be "at-risk", and the necessity of clear and fair rules (and rewards) for meaningful productivity.