What a beautiful response to a teacher who asked her class to write a Christmas essay.

[More Than A Feeling]

I take another look around my classroom and notice that Mahmeed is absent-mindedly cleaning underneathe his fingernails with the cap from his pen. Emily is feverishly trying to catch my eye and, having done so, mouthing the words, "I don't celebrate Christmas...I'm Jewish." in a quizzical manner. Jayden is doing what he normally does during such pop essays: he's looking out the window- probably wondering where his parents will get the money for January's rent and feeling guilty for daring to think about a gift. He's pretty sensitive.

http://possummomma.blogspot.com/2007/01/possum-1-makes-us-proud.html

Read the whole essay. The child who wrote this must be someone very special indeed.

[peace13]

1. Thanks for that!

A special hug for the young student who is blessed with insight beyond her years. Peace on earth, Kim

[LisaM]

2. It was a beautiful response

I have to disagree with the mother slightly for demeaning the assignment (not this particular topic, which I agree should not have been used, but the idea of a pop essay in general). Having your class write something without preparation probably is a far better indicator of academic achievement than standardized tests.

[cosmik debris]

3. If it sounds too good to be true...

This doesn't read like anything written by a public school student. I am extremely skeptical.

Note that the poster of this essay is a professional writer.

[LisaM]

4. Public school student as opposed to private school?

If you don't think it was written by a student, fine, but it's just as likely it could have come from a public school student than one in private school.

[More Than A Feeling]

6. It's possible the authorship could be misrepresented.

It's also possible that a professional writer would teach their child to write well. We simply don't know. If I find anything one way or the other, I'll make sure to post it.

On edit: in fact, that is the claim the author herself makes in a later post: http://possummomma.blogspot.com/2007/01/questions.html

[Lyric]

7. You'd be surprised.

There are extraordinarily gifted young people in the public school system. I know of a young lady who wrote many things of this caliber, or better, when she was only in 9th grade. She was writing college-level essays on civil rights before she got her Learner's Permit. She would have gotten into an Ivy League school without much effort, if her family situation hadn't been so tragic and horrible. She was forced to either drop out of high school and work full-time in a meatpacking factory, or watch her two younger siblings go hungry and cold because her mother was too ill to work and her father was dead.

I still see that young lady from time to time, although not nearly as often as I wish I did. She had so much potential, so much to offer the world. I keep hoping that I'll find her again someday.

[Meshuga]

8. I thought the same thing

And I am skeptical as well. As much as I wish this was not fiction.

[Goblinmonger]

11. There are plenty of great writers in high school

I had a sophmore, when given the descriptive essay assignment to write about a 15-second event that changed their lives, who wrote an short story about a girl who has an out-of-body experience in which she watches herself playing guitar. Here is one paragraph:

A man who looks a little bit like Jesus is sitting on the bookshelf next to me, kicking his sneakers against the books like a bored child. He transcends detail; it’s hard to tell what he looks like. My eyes catch a glimpse of auburn hair, reaching down to kiss his shoulders, the profile of his nose, the curve of his lip or chin – all milk-pale, all semi-translucent, like the underbelly of a fish. I look at him and he looks apathetic and wise all at once, and I’m depressed because I am unfulfilled, and unfulfilled because I am depressed, and just because I can’t open the door in front of me. I am blocked from my mind by my mind. It’s the battle that you show up at only to realize doesn’t exist. It’s the dream where the plane leaves early, leaving you on the ground waving your arms. No matter how many times the flight is rescheduled, you’re always too late, always stuck in security or en route. It’s this dream, only dreamt over and over, over and over again.

She is a fabulous writer. I will probably not see one as good in some time, but there are many out there. Why can't this girl be one?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

17. Sure, it's possible, but it's rare.

We certainly *can't* say "this piece definately wasn't written by a public school student", but being able to write like that at an age when teachers are still setting "what do I want for Christmas" is sufficiently rare that it's cause for considerable scepticism, I think.

[Meshuga]

19. 10 minute pop essay

I also think it's possible but rare. And you have to add the hurdle in this situation of this being a pop essay that she had only 10 minutes to come up with this beautifully done well thought out piece.

Maybe the kid is a genious. I am not saying it's not possible but I am skeptical. The story is a blog entry with no real names attached. The point from the article is well taken and there is a lot of truth in it even if it is fiction. I'm sure there are a lot of these types teachers out there doing these things.

If my kid is ever put in that situation I would raise some hell in that school. The essay with the teacher's comments is a nice piece of evidence for a formal complaint about this teacher.

Perhaps this blogger should be encouraged to take this a step further and see what comes out of this.

[bperci108]

12. I can't think of her name here on DU, but there is a HS-aged girl...

...that does the most astoundingly beautiful and perceptive Flash animation pieces.

I'd guess her to be in her late 20's if I didn't know better, she has such an adult, empathetic perception of the world.

[blonndee]

16. That's Ava,

who has the peacetakescourage website. She's great!

[texastoast]

13. My son wrote this when he was six

The forest darkens as the sun sinks low
And the lemons hang from the waxy leaves
Like yellow butter moons

He was in public school.

[John Gauger]

22. I was suspicious myself.

The Internet is filled with poorly written religious tripe fraudelently attributed to dying children, Albert Einstein, or George Carlin (who is a rabid atheist.) They are called "glurges." This could easily be one, only in reverse. They are usually fawned over as beautifully eloquent defences of the faith, but they are really just odious doggerel. This, one the other hand, is very well written. However, it seems to me that her statements to her teacher were very immature, so that adds a little bit of verisimilitude. A little while ago my brother was looking at some things he wrote when he was about the age of the girl in the story and we were astonished by how well. And we went to a public school. Not all public schools are in woeful disrepair. The public school in our town is undeniably a better school than the private one.

[Book Lover]

23. How funny! All I can see are the grammatical errors in the piece.

Well, not *all* but you know what I mean.

I would base my skepticism on the fact that this piece is posted on the internet, rather than the assertion that the student attends public school. Haven't you ever seen the public schools rich kids go to?

[cosmik debris]

24. When I said "public school"

I took the word of the essayists. It was not meant as a comparison of public school or private school. Nor was it a comparison of public school or university. It was the word the essayist used to describe the teacher. If you want to make more of it than is there, blame the essayists.

[glitch]

5. Wonderful! The replies are interesting too.

Although a few are a bit scary, they are dealt with beautifully.

[ThomCat]

9. The comments are priceless.

:)

The baptist preacher and a few of the other believers just make asses of themselves.

[RubyDuby in GA]

10. That is awesome

And it's a great blog too. Glad you pointed it out.

[trotsky]

14. Wow, what a lesson in tolerance and love.

Glad to know there's still a few people raising great kids.

[Evoman]

15. I like the teachers response.

Her teacher wrote this at the end of her essay:
"Possum#1*, thank you for your thoughtful remarks. I don't think you're an atheist but I respect your empathy for your friends. Please see me after class today. A+"

After class, possum#1 said that her teacher told her she couldn't be an atheist because her "ability to care for others feelings isn't an atheist trait." and that her "attitude was very Christian." WTF?!

[moggie]

18. "No true atheist..."

Damn, sometimes I think Scotland must be empty.

What the teacher said was, effectively, "your mother doesn't love you". How very Christian of her!

[Danger Mouse]

25. Atheists are cold-blooded fiends who feel no compassion for others...

didn't you KNOW that?

[NMMNG]

20. Beautiful essay

Then there's this idiotic response:

snip

Which I find to be morally reprehensible, how can you deny your child the beauty of God and His promises? How can you deny your children the love that comes from choosing Christ? It's obvious that your daughter is already lost. You will allow her to spin off in to the darkness of atheism and all of those consequences?

snip

Uh, the child has made it apparent that she's full of empathy and love for her peers and family, none of which she needed Christ for. If you'd give up your preconceived notions and religious bigotry you'd see that she's not "lost" nor is she in "darkness:. :eyes:

[AnneD]

21. There are many gifted kids out there,

we just have a hard time seeing them sometimes. As a Nurse, I see kids a bit differently. There was a kid that teachers would send to me because he was a PIA sometimes. But this kid could take apart and reassemble anything. Some were saying he did poorly and needed to be on meds. I doubted that. Well when the TAKS test scores came in-the kids scores were very high. I told his dad to please enroll him in an engineering program-that was this child's gift. I hope dad understood. That kid was a genius at circuitry-might be one to solve our energy needs in the future. Got as excited about electronics as a video game. I know talent when I see it-I don't care how many piercings or tattoos dad has.
People tend to judge kids by family income, race, class. Nonsense, total nonsense.