Westside School

During the spring of 2008, I got acquainted with the oldest son of the mother of my future daughters. This young man's name is Haryu Wooten. I met his mother at a poetry set on the Westside of Chicago. Me & Haryu’s mother soon started living together and she became pregnant with my first child. This would be her third. Haryu’s little brother was only 1 year old and was so full of joy & wonder when we met. Haryu on the other hand showed extreme focus & comprehension for a 2-year-old! The day I first met the pair of young lads, they were with their father & their mother introduced us all. The youngest boy crawled to me, hugged my leg, & smiled. While Haryu sat, arms folded looking visually upset. It was like he knew the whole situation and did not like it! Which intrigued me in a way I never had before. I love science fiction, chess, football, & other matters of strategy. Yet at 23 years of age, I still did not know I was a teacher. I thought I was solely an artist. Boy, was I wrong!

Haryu’s mother & I were in the beginning stages of our relationship. She found out about my obsession with Star Wars & that I did not own any copies of films. Remember this is 2008 so there is no Disney Plus app, just DVD collections. She bought me a copy of my favorite of the lot, the Empire Strikes Back! After I got home from work, we all watched the film. I was tired from work & fell asleep quickly. I woke back up to find everyone had fallen asleep except Haryu. The Imperial March played as the credits rolled & Haryu’s eyes were wide! He had a look at what was next written all over his face! I felt that a child that young to not move a muscle & watch a sci-fi film like that was ready to learn! Maybe even begging to learn.

The next day I went to the neighborhood dollar store and bought supplies. I bought some copying paper, colored pencils, and tape. I drew a Marvel Comics character for every alphabet except Z. I just drew a zebra for Z. In a month Haryu knew every letter & could annunciate all the characters! After that, I started a learning regiment for him & his brother. In a period, it was apparent that Haryu was far more advanced than his brother. So as the months proceeded, whenever I could find time between work, I would make two different sets of worksheets for the boys. Once they were in school years later, I still gave them concentrations outside of their schoolwork. I did the same for their sisters as far as working with them before school. I took a little different approach with the girls. I watched closely during the girl’s toddler stages and tried to hone in on their apparent skills! Once the girls could communicate, I asked a series of questions to know what paraphernalia to buy to teach them. During all this time dealing with my babies, turned toddlers, turned little children, and now turned teenagers I also mentored them.

In the first stable apartment, Haryu, his sister, brother, & mother shared several young men lurking around the neighborhood. I will not disclose all these young men's dealings, but everyone knew my home was like Switzerland. Once I made a rapport with the young men in the neighborhood, due to Haryu’s mother being related to some of them, I would teach them world history, chess, and different genres of music.

I learned a lot about myself during these years! A parent is just a good life teacher. I am a decent parent. I am about to have my third biological child, so I am excited to do the process over again. I am learning as I go right now, yet I am sure the preliminary stages will be a gas. I digress, I do like to organize, read, write, recite, and learn! Those are all major attributes of being a fine teacher. As my old high school football coach would say, “It’s hard but it’s fair” I know people think it is good to work smarter, not harder. Intelligence is something you work towards, and that same coach used to say, “Do a job big or small, do it well or not at all.” So, the harder I work at being knowledgeable for the sake of my children the easier it will be to educate them! I love being a teacher! Thank you Haryu!