10 YEARS AGO
The long beautiful mahogany table looked to be the only thing of value in the room. Of course that was only if you overlooked the coffee stains put there by the careless members of the school board. They all had their eyes fixated on Vincent with utmost curiosity. Nobody fully understood why he was here. The head chairman was the first to break the silence without ever looking up from the table.
"This is an impressive resume Mr.Young."
The portly chairman kept his gaze on the resume lying before him as he talked to Vincent. It appeared he had no interest in taking his eyes off of the resume. The resume vaunted relentlessly of Vincent's crowning achievements.
"We all just don't seem to understand Mr.Young, you really have it made over there at St.Mary's. Why do you wish to take a pay cut to come teach at our school?"
There were snickers throughout the room as if it was time for Vince to answer the million dollar question. He had everything over at St.Mary's Catholic Middle School and his students loved him dearly. Why should he take a pay cut to come teach kids from Baltimore city that were probably going to amount to nothing?
Vincent remained steadfast in his chair and admired the view from the window of Inner Harbor. It seemed to be the only thing nice about the school. He cleared his throat before he could answer.
"I know this sounds a bit ludicrous but life has been very good to me, heck, that's why I served in the Marines. I want to make a difference in this world and in these kids lives."
The school board committee looked astonished. School teachers were constantly going on strike all the time asking for more money and here was Vincent, a well respected school teacher from St.Mary's, wanting to come teach at their cruddy school.
Vincent's sincere answer to their question quieted the giggly crowd. It was now their turn to talk. Mr.Thomas, the middle school principal, loosened up his checkered tie, leaned forward, and placed his rigid hands on the table.
"Mr.Young, let me tell you something. I have been a principal at this school for 8 years and do not know of one teacher here that is content. These kids are from the inner city and can be a real handful."
Vincent straightened up in his chair.
"Well, I don't have any kids of my own but my wife and I are planning to have some soon. I just seem to have a way with kids."
Snickers quickly erupted throughout the room and the lady in the pink dress nearly choked on her cup of water. The portly chairman raised his hand signaling them to stop laughing. He quickly took over the conversation.
"We're not trying to intimidate you Mr.Young. A lot of our teachers have had bad experiences with the children. In fact, we would love to take you on board. What do you guys think?"
Everybody nodded with approval and the wiry man in the corner even gave a thumbs up. That ended the interview and everyone got up from their seats to shake Vincent's hand. He was now officially a teacher at a middle school that would change his life forever.