Claire Johnson, 07-09: Changing the World One Study Hall at a Time

It was by chance I put Robert in the front when I made my first seating chart of the year.

I knew practically nothing about him when school started. I quickly learned he had excellent handwriting, but never had anything to write with. He had trouble seeing and he loved to play football. Football was new at our school and Robert jumped into it both feet first. Football was his motivator. Whether it was practice, a game or weight-training, he was more dedicated than most of his peers. Robert also attended an ‘alternative school’ before coming to our school. For Robert, this meant he struggled academically.

The year started out pretty well, but a few weeks in I noticed that Robert didn’t turn in a homework assignment on money conversions. The next day I asked him why and he said he didn’t get it. That day we spent part of his lunch period going through the worksheet problem by problem and by the end he had caught on. I told him if he ever didn’t understand an assignment again he would have to come after school and I would help him get started. I also told him that if he wanted to play football he would have to turn his homework in. This struck a chord with him and he came to study hall after school regularly for the rest of the year. Almost every day he came our conversations followed this script:

Robert: “Ms. Johnson, come help me. I don’t get this, I need your help.”

Claire: “You do know how to do this, we went over it in class today.”

Robert: “No I don’t. I don’t know what to do.”

Claire: “Well try something Robert, I’m not going to come help you until you at least try the first problem.”

And so it went every study hall Robert attended. He would complain about the work and I would encourage him any way I could.

When first quarter grades came, out Robert had barely scraped by…with a low D. He passed. But whether he agreed or not, I knew he could do better. So we kept working — 2-3 times a week he’d come after school and we’d struggle through a homework assignment.

Over the next quarter his grade steadily improved. He started doing better on tests, and by the second quarter he had improved to a B. It wasn’t all smooth sailing – Robert was suspended a few times and slipped a little on his study hall attendance towards the end of the year.

But despite these shortfalls, he continued to sit in the front of the classroom, working on his lunch hour and doing his homework, so he could keep up his C average.

One of the last weeks of school Robert was in study hall studying for the final and as he was getting ready to leave we started talking about his future. He had failed some of his other classes and was wondering if he would make it to his sophomore year or if he would have to repeat the ninth grade. I had had many conversations with him over the course of the school year, but it wasn’t until this particular one that I really learned something about “Robert, the person” rather than “Robert, the student” or “Robert, the football player.”

I got a little glimpse into what school must be like for him. He takes the city bus to school and sometimes he has to sacrifice an afterschool snack so he has money to get home. He’s older than his classmates and doesn’t want to be 17 and still in the ninth grade. Most importantly, in that conversation I realized the transformation that had taken place in him. Somewhere along the way the dedication he brought to football got transferred to his schoolwork. He cared about his classes and doing well in school and unlike many of his classmates he worked at school. He put the time in and set an example for others to see what it meant to strive for something. I don’t know what will become of Robert down the road, but I do know that if he brings the same level of commitment he had in my Physical Science class to anything else in his life, he should do pretty well for himself.