“Hope goes to school”
It was a rainy Sunday evening when Hope arrived in the city of Lamia, a
small picturesque town set in the centre of Greece. The children were looking
forward to meeting her. They thought that she would be a change in their hectic
routine. She greeted everyone, introduced herself and said that Lamia seemed to
her like a peaceful welcoming place. Hope was curious to see the place where
teenagers spend most of their time, so asked the children to take her to school
with them.
The students laughed and wondered why she would like to visit a school.”
There’s nothing to see in a place like that. School is boring and everyone
hates it! “However, Hope insisted “You can’t be serious! Schools are amazing!
You can discover a whole new world there and broaden your horizons. You can
meet interesting people and caring teachers who will help you reach your full
potential! “The students smirked and agreed to take her with them.
The next morning Hope got up at
the crack of dawn. She rushed to the children’s bedroom and
hopped happily on their beds. Most days the children would wake up feeling
discouraged and demotivated, but that day they woke up smiling. There was a
sense of possibility, a feeling that it would be a good day!
On their way to school Hope noticed that most students were walking
heavily and seemed sleepy and uninterested. She was standing still, staring at
the imposing, colourless, suffocating building, wondering whether all schools
were like that. Nevertheless, thinking that one shouldn’t judge a book by its
cover, she hurriedly run into the classroom, only to realize that the inside of
the building was worse than the outside.
In the classroom, chaos prevailed. Children were screaming, some girls
were fighting over a makeup kit and the teacher was effortlessly trying to
catch their attention. Hope tried to speak up! “Stop! This is not how a lesson
should be! This is not a place to learn!” The teacher stood up and started
yelling at the students to be quiet. After few minutes the silence was
punctuated by the dull and monotonous voice of the teacher who was supposed to
be teaching World History in the most inappropriate way… She was solely reading
the lesson from the book, didn’t explain anything and to make things worse, she
didn’t respond to some students who were raising their hands to ask questions.
At some point Hope
noticed a quiet, sad looking boy sitting at the back. He had been trying to ask
something but he was repeatedly ignored so after a while he just stopped
trying.
Suddenly the bell rung and the students rushed out of the classroom
while the teacher was murmuring something about the new generation and how
spoilt they all were. The bashful boy was still sitting on his chair. Hope
jumped on his desk and immediately realized that she was sketching something.
It didn’t take her long to understand that the boy was very talented. Thus, she
decided to take matters in her hands – erh… paws. She grabbed the sketches and
started running towards the school yard. She wanted to show everyone the boy’s
work. On her way out she bumped into the Art Teacher who was overwhelmed by the
beauty of the sketches and the feelings they evoked. He wondered who the
talented artist was!
Little did he know that the artist was the shy boy who never
participated in his lessons. Hope led
the teacher to the young boy who was happy to be noticed at last but at the
same time too shy to speak for himself. His Art Teacher decided to send the
boy’s drawings to an Art Competition and at the same time he offered to give
him lessons after school so the boy could get into University and study Fine
Arts, which was his dream.
Hope had to leave Lamia so she never learned what happened to the boy or
whether he won that competition. She realized though that in every school there
are students waiting to be noticed and that the secret of education lies in
respecting the pupil. Teachers, most of the times, do not know if they have
made a difference in a child’s life; but for children who are used to being
ignored, a good teacher can provide an astonishing revelation and change their
lives forever.
Κ.Ξ.Γ. House of English
Κοραή 1, ΛΑΜΙΑ 35131 ΤΗΛ. 2231302256
Story written and
edited by the students: Konstantina P
Sia P.
Melina K.
Marilena B.
Rafaela Ts.
Nick F.
Vasilis G.
