Please consider this special issue a small token of thanks to the denizens of this school—and a testament to what Audre Lorde once wrote:
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
so it is better to speak
Stones of Erasmus — Just plain good writing, teaching, thinking, doing, making, being, dreaming, seeing, feeling, building, creating, reading
N.B. This issue was published in New York City (Jackson Heights, Queens), Spring 2024. For queries or errata, email support@stonesoferasmus.org.
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While some of the statues in Jackson Heights may resemble guarding lions more than take-flight griffins, there is undoubtedly a family resemblance. However, I must confess that I am not a pedant when it comes to classifying mythological creatures, and their presence in the neighborhood adds to their unique character and charm. |
Feeling the need to be inspired, I found this post-it note on a bulletin board at the school where I am a high school English teacher. I teach in a K-12 school in the New York City borough of Queens.
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Julian in Fourth Grade doles out a massive dose of encouragement. |
Needing Positivity this Week (For Sure!)
I am usually the teacher who brings positivity to the classroom. But lately, I have been feeling down-and-out. Maybe it's the global pandemic that has swept the world, or maybe it's the attack on our democratic institutions on Wednesday that threw the nation's Capitol building into lockdown. A large group of Trump-inspired far-right rioters breached security protocol and entered the federal building, breaking glass, vandalizing the Speaker of the House's office, and even infiltrating the Senate chambers — where just an hour before, legislators had convened to accept certified electoral college votes from the states — to follow through with the Constitutional process to de facto validate the election of the next President of the United States, Mr. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Inspiring Note from a Fourth Grader
And I saw this note from a Fourth grader. Kids at this age have an optimism and clarity for both big-spectacled dreams as well as practical sense. Who doesn't want the world changed for the better? But I love how he admits it is a challenge. And kudos for his marvelous grammatical construction — "Changing the world isn't easy, but anyone can."