School Stories

This is an essay that I wrote in my last English class. It is about “school stories” I hope you enjoy it.

The Place Where Stories Come From
Every one loves a good story, but where do good stories come from? There are stories of ancestors long ago, fairy tails, of heroes, of villains, of princesses, and of knights in shining armor. Despite all the varieties of good stories the most heart warming is perhaps stories that revolve around children. What better place to find stories about children than in a school? Actually, schools have been known through times past and the present day news to be the home of many good stories.

The school experience is different for each person. For my own life I was home schooled and so it was very different for me than it is for most other people. I loved being at home. I feel that for me it was the perfect opportunity to learn how to rely on myself for education and to learn from books and from listening to my parents. I would love to home school my children some day and give them that experience also. My story would consists a lot around my brothers and my parents such as Saturday mornings going through math flashcards with my father for rewards or many hours of snuggling up on a couch with my mother reading together or practicing math and writing skills at the dining room table. My story may be very different from many other peoples story but each one of us is different no one can claim another person's story as their own.

Through out history boarding schools have been known to have many stories. Stories can vary from an old legend that is told about bewitched people who lived in the building years ago, to pranks that one boarder plays on a fellow classmate or even teacher, to boarders simply disobeying the rules and going on grand adventures. To me one of the most memorable of such stories is from the movie Anne of Green Gables where Anne Shirley and some other girls end up going out on the roof at night and then Anne falls through a skylight. Another story that is a bit less innocent is the one that took place in Luisa May Alcotte's book Little Men Where some boys decided to smoke and the bed covers caught fire and one boy was burned badly.

What school stories end up in the news paper or in front of television cameras? The stories in the news are most often those that are life changing and violent. A real live example of this is the Columbine School shooting. This story was in the news multiple times and several books have been written about the lives of those who died that day. Those who were murdered died because of their diversity, some because of the color of their skin, and some because of what they believed in and their sharing of those beliefs, such as Rachel Scott, a student at Columbine High school, who died because she told her attacker that she was a Christian and would not relinquish this statement.

School teachers are a source of many memories and perhaps stories as well. It is not uncommon to hear a business man telling about an experience he had with a school teacher in second grade or to hear a college professor tell of experiences with previous teachers. Although teaching may not be a job that regularly is hailed or publicized it is one that makes a difference in the lives of the children who go through the classroom. Teachers can be remembered both positively and negatively. In Laura Ingles Wilders series Little House on the Prairie Laura starts out as a student who is treated unfairly by her school teacher who has a difficult time keeping all of the children under control. Although Laura feels mistreated she soon find out how her teacher felt when she herself goes to work as a school teacher in another town. Teachers have feelings too and the school experience is a story for them just as much as it is for the students.

The book Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes illustrates stories that the students may never see published in their local paper but are non the less worthy of the retelling. Each of the individuals in that book have a struggle inside of them. Each person is different and each has a different story to tell. Part of what makes a good story is the soul of the people in it. The people are what make up the story. Perhaps the story belongs only to them and cannot really be told or understood by any one else. If one were to go into the mind of each of the fictional characters in Bronx Masqueraid perhaps then the reader would begin to understand the story of that school. Oh yes, a school has a story. It is the story of each of the pupils and teachers that go through it's halls each day. What would walls tell if only they had mouths to speak from. Would they tell of all of the giggles, the tears, the shouts, the whispers that passes through them every school day?
Stories, every one has them. The story of school makes up much of a child's life. They have adventures there. They learn there. That is where many of their friends are. Some experiences may not seem as exciting as others but non the less stories are what makes up a person, the stories of his or her life. I have been blessed through my school story. Being home schooled was great for me, I had many friends form my local church and from other activities I was involved in. I don't feel as though I missed out on any thing important from not going to a public school. Even though being home schooled was right for me it might not be right for every one Each person is different and in need of different experiences. I have also enjoyed learning about other people's school stories. Both the good and the bad experiences make up the light and dark threads of the tapestry of society.