Pearl Arredondo: My story, from gangland daughter to star teacher

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevoditelj: Kalina Matušin Recezent: Maja Budišin Lukin

So I grew up in East Los Angeles,

Odrasla sam u istočnom dijelu Los Angelesa

not even realizing I was poor.

i ne shvaćajući da sam bila siromašna.

My dad was a high-ranking gang member who ran the streets.

Moj je otac bio visokopozicionirani član ulične bande.

Everyone knew who I was,

Svi su znali tko sam

so I thought I was a pretty big deal, and I was protected,

pa sam mislila da sam prilično važna, i bila sam zaštićena!

and even though my dad spent most of my life

Iako je moj otac većinu mog života proveo

in and out of jail,

u zatvoru,

I had an amazing mom who was just fiercely independent.

imala sam nevjerojatnu majku koja je bila jednostavno silno neovisna.

She worked at the local high school

Radila je u lokalnoj srednjoj školi

as a secretary in the dean's office,

kao tajnica u ravnateljevom uredu,

so she got to see all the kids that got thrown out of class,

pa je mogla vidjeti svu djecu koja su bila izbacivana s nastave

for whatever reason, who were waiting to be disciplined.

iz bilo kakvih razloga, i koja su čekala neku disciplinsku mjeru.

Man, her office was packed.

Čovječe... Njen je ured uvijek bio prepun.

So, see, kids like us, we have a lot of things to deal with

Tako da, znate, djeca poput nas, suočavamo se s puno toga

outside of school,

izvan škole,

and sometimes we're just not ready to focus.

i ponekad jednostavno nismo spremni koncentrirati se.

But that doesn't mean that we can't.

Ali, to ne znači da ne možemo.

It just takes a little bit more.

Samo nam je potrebno malo više.

Like, I remember one day I found my dad

Kao, na primjer, sjećam se da sam jednog dana pronašla tatu

convulsing, foaming at the mouth,

zgrčenog, pjena mu je izlazila iz ustiju,

OD-ing on the bathroom floor.

predoziranog na podu kupaonice.

Really, do you think that doing my homework that night

Zaista, mislite li da je domaća zadaća te večeri

was at the top of my priority list?

bila jedan od mojih prioriteta?

Not so much.

Ne baš.

But I really needed a support network,

Ali, zaista mi je trebala mreža podrške,

a group of people who were going to help me

grupa ljudi koji će mi pomoći,

make sure that I wasn't going to be

pobrinuti se da neću postati

a victim of my own circumstance,

žrtva okolnosti u kojima sam se našla,

that they were going to push me

da će me pogurati

beyond what I even thought I could do.

čak i iznad onog što sam ja mislila da mogu.

I needed teachers, in the classroom, every day,

Učitelji su mi bili potrebni, u učionici, svakog dana,

who were going to say, "You can move beyond that."

koji će reći: "Možeš se izdići iznad toga."

And unfortunately, the local junior high

Nažalost, lokalna osnovna škola

was not going to offer that.

nije mi to mogla ponuditi.

It was gang-infested, huge teacher turnover rate.

Bila je preplavljena bandama; mnogo je učitelja odustajalo od tog posla.

So my mom said, "You're going on a bus

Pa je moja mama rekla: "Ideš na autobus,

an hour and a half away from where we live every day."

sat i pol dalje od mjesta gdje živimo. Svaki dan."

So for the next two years, that's what I did.

Sljedeće sam dvije godine radila upravo to.

I took a school bus to the fancy side of town.

Išla sam autobusom do otmjenog dijela grada.

And eventually, I ended up at a school

I na kraju sam završila u školi

where there was a mixture.

koja je bila mješavina svega.

There were some people who were really gang-affiliated,

Bilo je ljudi koji su stvarno bili pripadnici bandi,

and then there were those of us

a bilo je i nas koji

really trying to make it to high school.

smo stvarno željeli upisati srednju školu.

Well, trying to stay out of trouble was a little unavoidable.

Nastojati izbjeći nevolje bilo je pomalo neizbježno.

You had to survive.

Morali ste preživjeti!

You just had to do things sometimes.

Ponekad ste jednostavno morali učiniti neke stvari.

So there were a lot of teachers who were like,

Mnogo je učitelja mislilo:

"She's never going to make it.

"Ona nikad neće uspjeti.

She has an issue with authority.

Ima problema s autoritetom.

She's not going to go anywhere."

Neće nikamo stići."

Some teachers completely wrote me off as a lost cause.

Neki su me učitelji potpuno otpisali kao izgubljen slučaj.

But then, they were very surprised

No opet, bili su jako iznenađeni

when I graduated from high school.

kad sam maturirala.

I was accepted to Pepperdine University,

Upisala sam Sveučilište Pepperdine,

and I came back to the same school that I attended

i vratila se u istu školu koju sam pohađala

to be a special ed assistant.

kao asistent u nastavi za djecus teškoćama u razvoju.

And then I told them, "I want to be a teacher."

I onda sam im rekla: "Želim biti učiteljica."

And boy, they were like, "What? Why?

Stvarno su ostali, ono, "Što? Zašto?

Why would you want to do that?"

Zašto bi to željela?"

So I began my teaching career

Tako sam započela svoju učiteljsku karijeru

at the exact same middle school that I attended,

u višim razredima iste osnovne školekoju sam pohađala.

and I really wanted to try to save more kids

Stvarno sam željela pokušati spasiti više djece

who were just like me.

koja su bila poput mene.

And so every year, I share my background with my kids,

I tako svake godine dijelim svoju prošlost sa svojim učenicima,

because they need to know that everyone has a story,

jer trebaju znati da svatko ima neku priču,

everyone has a struggle,

svi se borimo,

and everyone needs help along the way.

i svima nam je na tom putu potrebna pomoć.

And I am going to be their help along the way.

A ja ću njima na tom putu biti ta pomoć.

So as a rookie teacher, I created opportunity.

Dakle, kao učitelj početnik, ja sam stvarala prigodu.

I had a kid one day come into my class

Jednom je jedan učenik ušao u moj razred

having been stabbed the night before.

nakon što su ga prethodne noći proboli nožem.

I was like, "You need to go to a hospital,

Rekla sam mu: "Trebaš ići u bolnicu,

the school nurse, something."

školskoj medicinskoj sestri, nešto!"

He's like, "No, Miss, I'm not going.

A on: "Ne, gospođice, ne idem.

I need to be in class because I need to graduate."

Moram biti na nastavi, jer moram maturirati."

So he knew that I was not going to let him be a victim

Dakle, znao je da neću dopustiti da bude žrtva

of his circumstance,

okolnosti u kojima se našao,

but we were going to push forward and keep moving on.

nego ćemo ustrajati i nastaviti dalje.

And this idea of creating a safe haven for our kids

A ta ideja o stvaranju sigurnog utočišta za našu djecu

and getting to know exactly what they're going through,

i upoznavanju kroz što točno prolaze,

getting to know their families -- I wanted that,

upoznavanju njihovih obitelji - to sam željela,

but I couldn't do it in a school with 1,600 kids,

ali nisam mogla učiniti u školi s 1600 djece,

and teachers turning over year after year after year.

s učiteljima koji se iz godine u godinu mijenjaju.

How do you get to build those relationships?

Kako uspijete izgraditi takve odnose?

So we created a new school.

I tako smo stvorili novu školu!

And we created

Stvorili smo

the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media.

Institut San Fernando za primijenjene medije.

And we made sure that we were still attached

Pobrinuli smo se da ostanemo u sklopu

to our school district for funding, for support.

školskog okruga radi financiranja, radi potpore.

But with that, we were going to gain freedom:

A sa svime time dobili smo slobodu:

freedom to hire the teachers

slobodu da zaposlimo učitelje

that we knew were going to be effective;

za koje smo znali da će biti djelotvorni.

freedom to control the curriculum

Slobodu da utječemo na program

so that we're not doing lesson 1.2 on page five, no;

kako ne bismo obrađivali lekciju 1.2 na petoj stranici, ne.

and freedom to control a budget,

I slobodu da upravljamo svojim proračunom,

to spend money where it matters,

da trošimo novac na ono bitno,

not how a district or a state says you have to do it.

ne onako kako okruzi država kažu da morate učiniti!

We wanted those freedoms.

Željeli smo te slobode.

But now, shifting an entire paradigm,

No, mijenjanje cijele paradigme,

it hasn't been an easy journey, nor is it even complete.

put nije bio lak, niti smo ga još uvijek okončali.

But we had to do it.

Ali, morali smo to učiniti!

Our community deserved a new way of doing things.

Naša zajednica zaslužila je da počnemo drugačije raditi.

And as the very first pilot middle school

A u prvoj pokusnoj osnovnoj školi

in all of Los Angeles Unified School District,

u cijelom Ujedinjenom školskom okrugu Los Angelesa...

you better believe there was some opposition.

vjerujte, bilo je protivljenja.

And it was out of fear --

I bilo ga je zbog straha -

fear of, well, what if they get it wrong?

straha od - što ako nisu u pravu?

Yeah, what if we get it wrong?

Da, što ako nismo u pravu?!

But what if we get it right?

Ali, što ako jesmo?!

And we did.

A bili smo!

So even though teachers were against it

Iako su učitelji bili protiv,

because we employ one-year contracts --

jer zapošljavamo kroz jednogodišnje ugovore -

you can't teach, or you don't want to teach,

Ako ne možeš poučavati, ili ne želiš poučavati,

you don't get to be at my school with my kids.

nema ti mjesta u mojoj školi, s mojom djecom!

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

So in our third year, how did we do it?

Dakle, u trećoj našoj godini - kako smo uspjeli?

Well, we're making school worth coming to every day.

Pa, svakog dana radimo na tome da vrijedi dolaziti u školu.

We make our kids feel like they matter to us.

Naši učenici osjećaju da su nam važni.

We make our curriculum rigorous and relevant to them,

Naš je program zahtjevan i njima važan.

and they use all the technology that they're used to.

I koriste se svom tehnologijom na koju su navikli...

Laptops, computers, tablets -- you name it, they have it.

Laptopi, kompjuteri, tableti - sve čega se sjetite, oni imaju!

Animation, software, moviemaking software, they have it all.

Animacije, softver, softver za snimanje filmova, sve imaju.

And because we connect it to what they're doing —

I zato što povezujemo s onim što rade -

For example, they made public service announcements

Primjerice, izradili su javna priopćenja

for the Cancer Society.

za Društvo za borbu protiv raka.

These were played in the local trolley system.

Objavljivana su po lokalnim tramvajima.

Teaching elements of persuasion,

Poučavati elemente uvjeravanja,

it doesn't get any more real than that.

Ne može biti realnije od ovoga!

Our state test scores have gone up

Naši rezultati na državnom testu porasli su

more than 80 points since we've become our own school.

za više od 80 bodova otkako smo postali samostalna škola.

But it's taken all stakeholders, working together --

No, svi dionici morali su zajedno raditi -

teachers and principals on one-year contracts,

učitelji i ravnatelji s jednogodišnjim ugovorima

working over and above and beyond their contract hours

radili su više, iznad i izvan ugovorenih sati

without compensation.

bez naknade.

And it takes a school board member

Potreban je i član školskog odbora

who is going to lobby for you and say,

koji će se zauzeti za vas i reći:

"Know, the district is trying to impose this,

"Znaš, okrug nastoji ovo nametnuti,

but you have the freedom to do otherwise."

ali imaš slobodu učiniti to drugačije."

And it takes an active parent center

A potrebno je i aktivno vijeće roditelja,

who is not only there, showing a presence every day,

koje nije ondje samo da bi bilo ondje,

but who is part of our governance,

nego kao dio našeg sustava upravljanja

making decisions for their kids, our kids.

odlučuje za dobro svoje djece,naše djece.

Because why should our students have to go

Jer, zašto bi naši učenici trebali putovati

so far away from where they live?

toliko daleko od mjesta gdje žive?!

They deserve a quality school in their neighborhood,

Zaslužuju kvalitetnu školu u svome susjedstvu,

a school that they can be proud to say they attend,

školu za koju će s ponosom moći reći da je pohađaju,

and a school that the community can be proud of as well,

i školu na koju će i zajednica biti ponosna.

and they need teachers to fight for them every day

Potrebni su im i učitelji da se za njih bore, svakoga dana,

and empower them to move beyond their circumstances.

i daju im snage da se izdignu iznad okolnosti koje ih sputavaju.

Because it's time that kids like me

Zato što je vrijeme da djeca poput mene

stop being the exception, and we become the norm.

prestanu biti iznimka, i da postanemo pravilo.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)