Saving Grace
Hayley French
Dr.Farina
10/09/13

Grace is high school student who wakes up every morning and gets on the yellow school bus which takes her against her will to her high school. She gets to school and walks swiftly through the halls as she dodges paper and harsh, ruthless names being thrown at her. She finds her locker, puts her backpack away then quickly runs and hides in her safe haven located in the third stall of the girls bathroom. When the first bell of the day pierces her already pierced ears she walks with her head down back through the war zone of a hall way to her first class where she sits in the very last row trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. It isn’t until fourth period where she finally lifts her head up for the first time all day and cracks a smile at her teacher who welcomes her everyday with a warm smile and a saved seat in the front row. From all the bullying, the teachers who don’t make any kind of effort to understand her, and lack of support from administration and other adults in the school, Mrs. Jones, who goes the extra mile to make sure Grace is keeping up with her work and the few relationships with friends she has, is the only string that keeps her in school. She makes her feel wanted and believes in her as well as instills her own belief in herself. Mrs. Jones is just one example of a teacher who is a savior. Without Mrs. Jones, Grace would have no reason to come to school, she would fall behind in her education and, without Mrs. Jones’ support, could possibly not graduate. Mrs. Jones is saving Grace. While many students and parents see teachers as solely educators, teachers actually play a much more influential role than merely that of a common teacher. In fact, for some students, teachers actually play a much more influential role- that of a savior. Teachers such as Mrs. Jones are not given nearly enough credit in the world of education. According to statistics by Education Week, nationally 3,030,000 high school students drop out annually. Which means 8,300 students drop out everyday. Thats 3,030,000 students who will not have access to 90% of the jobs in the work force without a high school education. Whats even more shocking is thats 3,030,000 students who on average will earn $260,000 less in their lifetime than someone who will graduate high school (n.d.). Why aren’t these students graduating? Many factors contribute to students dropping out but, what seems to stick out the most is the student’s involvement and affiliation with the school they attend. “Children who develop a commitment to succeed in school and who feel a sense of attachment to school are more successful academically” (Battin-Pearson, S., Newcomb, M. D., Abbott, R. D., Hill, K. G., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J.D. 2000). It seems obvious that students who are involved with their school and are active in extracurriculars are more likely to stay in school but, still we have students who either don’t feel they fit into any kind of extracurricular or aren’t encouraged to get involved. Who is responsible for making sure children get involved and stay in school? The kids themselves? Teachers? Parents? Administration? Its most likely a combination of them all but in many cases teachers, who are seen as just educators to most, are the ones who are keeping the students in school. As seen in the movie Dangerous Minds, LouAnne Johnson a white female teacher is thrown into a classroom that she is not mentally prepared for. The class is full of at-risk kids who really have no concept of what education is. They don’t understand why education is important nor do they really care. They have to worry about whether their girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend is going to get out of jail and hunt them down and about whether they are going to be kicked out of school for being pregnant. Issues that high school students should never have to deal with. However, when Johnson comes into