The (Summer School) Breakfast Club
If you haven’t seen the movie, you’ve at least heard of it. The 1985 John Hughes classic featuring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy and Anthony Michael Hall. Five suburban High School students forced to spend their Saturday together in detention. What they discover during this shared experience is that while they are seemingly unique teenagers with vastly different personalities, friend groups, interests & family dynamics there is a piece of every teenage stereotype within each of them. You may recall the closing letter they leave for their Principal…
Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us — in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain … and an athlete … and a basket case … and a princess … and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club.
This summer, I have the privilege of facilitating Summer School for my local High School. At times, it feels like my own personal version of The Breakfast Club. The room is filled with students from every demographic in the school. We’ve got everything from the Freshmen who have failed a class for the first time in their lives to the seasoned veterans of Summer School who won’t graduate without these extra four weeks of school each year.
This experience comes on the heels of nine months spent working with students in a Tier 3 Intervention classroom we affectionately call the ARC — Academic Resource Center. The ARC is designed to provide students with a safe place to obtain academic, emotional & relational support during their years in High School. We are teachers but more than that we are mentors, advocates and second-parents.
Summer School. It’s a phrase and a place that carries a lot of false assumptions for most people. When I tell someone what I’m doing, it’s easy to discover that person’s impression of Summer School (and by de facto the students enrolled) by the inflection of their voice and the change in their facial expressions. For a few individuals, Summer School was a realized experience and their only path to graduation. For most people, Summer School and the students enrolled are seen as something quite less.
The words written by Anthony Michael Hall in the letter above have never felt more true: “You see us as you want to see us — in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions.”
Lazy. Irresponsible. Indifferent. Failures.
To be fair … I’ve spent time this summer banging my head on the wall while groaning about a student’s complacency. At the same time … I’ve celebrated with students as they completed course-work in a matter of days and walked out the door to enjoy the rest of their summer break.
There is no one-size-fits-all Summer School student. Are some of them lazy, irresponsible & indifferent? Absolutely! Most though are simply young men & women for whom school and life are a little more difficult than for others. For some of these students, school simply doesn’t come as naturally as it does for others. For some of these students, their lives are filled with trauma of varying kinds. It’s hard to care about Algebra when you don’t know where your next meal is going to come from or where you’re going to sleep tonight. It’s hard to care about Biology when your family & friendships — those support systems we all depend upon — are disintegrating around you.
In the classroom this summer, I’ve counseled students through incredibly difficult family & life circumstances. I’ve tried to motivate students to look at themselves & the world in new ways. In the classroom this summer, we’ve talked about politics & religion (when brought up by a student) … about current events (mostly COVID) … and about their hopes & dreams for their futures. In the classroom this summer, we’ve talked a lot about how to avoid being in Summer School next year.
This summer — as at all times — I have tried to keep in mind the words of a Youth Pastor even more seasoned than me. “Students are not a problem to be solved but rather a wonder to behold.”
May we never forget our own teenage years and how much we benefited from having adults in our lives who showed us amazing grace & overwhelming compassion as we navigated this awkward stage of life. May we never forget those adults who were our mentors, our advocates and our second-parents.
And may we have the courage to share our lives with students who suddenly wake-up to find themselves in the midst of their own personal Breakfast Club.
