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

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Tamara Djordjevic Lektor: Mile Živković

So I grew up in East Los Angeles,

Odrasla sam u istočnom Los Anđelesu,

not even realizing I was poor.

ni ne shvatajući da sam siromašna.

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

Moj otac je bio visoko rangirani član bande koja je vladala ulicama.

Everyone knew who I was,

Svi su znali ko sam ja,

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

mislila sam da je to velika stvar. Ja sam bila zaštićena.

and even though my dad spent most of my life

Iako je moj otac proveo veći deo mog života

in and out of jail,

po raznim zatvorima,

I had an amazing mom who was just fiercely independent.

ja sam imala predivnu majku, koja je bila žestoko nezavisna.

She worked at the local high school

Ona je radila u lokalnoj srednjoj školi,

as a secretary in the dean's office,

kao sekretarica u direktorovoj kancelariji.

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

Bila je u prilici da vidi svu decu koja su bila izbačena sa časa

for whatever reason, who were waiting to be disciplined.

iz bilo kog razloga, i koja su čekala disciplinsku kaznu.

Man, her office was packed.

Čoveče, njena kancelarija je uvek bila prepuna.

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

Klinci kao ja, mi se suočavamo sa raznim stvarima

outside of school,

van škole,

and sometimes we're just not ready to focus.

i ponekad, mi jednostavno nismo spremni da se koncentrišemo.

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

To ne znači da ne možemo.

It just takes a little bit more.

Samo nam treba više vremena.

Like, I remember one day I found my dad

Sećam se jednog dana kada sam pronašla oca

convulsing, foaming at the mouth,

zgrčenog, sa penom na ustima,

OD-ing on the bathroom floor.

predoziranog na pločicama u kupatilu.

Really, do you think that doing my homework that night

Milsite da je moj domaći bio

was at the top of my priority list?

na listi prioriteta te večeri?

Not so much.

Ne baš.

But I really needed a support network,

Meni je zaista bila potrebna podrška,

a group of people who were going to help me

grupa ljudi koji bi mi pomogli,

make sure that I wasn't going to be

da ne postanem

a victim of my own circumstance,

žrtva mojih sopstvenih okolnosti.

that they were going to push me

Oni bi me gurali

beyond what I even thought I could do.

dalje od onoga što sam čak i ja mislila da mogu.

I needed teachers, in the classroom, every day,

Meni su bili potrebni učitelji, u učionici svakog dana,

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

koji bi govorili: "Ti možeš više od ovog".

And unfortunately, the local junior high

Nažalost, škola od petog do osmog razreda

was not going to offer that.

nije to nudila.

It was gang-infested, huge teacher turnover rate.

Bilo je dosta bandi u školi, i nastavnici su se stalno menjali.

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

Moja majka je onda rekla: "Ići ćeš autobusom u školu,

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

svaki dan, sat i po od naše kuće."

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

Naredne dve godine, ja sam tako putovala svaki dan.

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

Išla sam autobusom u skupi deo grada.

And eventually, I ended up at a school

Završila sam u školi

where there was a mixture.

koja je bila mešovita,

There were some people who were really gang-affiliated,

bilo je ljudi koji su bili povezani sa bandama,

and then there were those of us

i nas koji smo

really trying to make it to high school.

želeli da pohađamo srednju školu.

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

Bilo je nezaobilazno da se uvališ u probleme tu i tamo.

You had to survive.

Morala sam da preživim.

You just had to do things sometimes.

Morate nekad da uradite neke stvari.

So there were a lot of teachers who were like,

Bilo je dosta nastavnika, koji su mislili:

"She's never going to make it.

"Ona nikad neće uspeti.

She has an issue with authority.

Ima problem sa autoritetom.

She's not going to go anywhere."

Neće postići ništa."

Some teachers completely wrote me off as a lost cause.

Neki nastavnici su me potpuno otpisali kao izgubljeni slučaj.

But then, they were very surprised

A onda su bili jako iznenađeni

when I graduated from high school.

kada sam završila srednju školu.

I was accepted to Pepperdine University,

Bila sam primljena na univerzitet u Peperdajnu,

and I came back to the same school that I attended

i vratila sam se u istu školu koju sam pohađala

to be a special ed assistant.

da budem pomoćnik nastavnika za specijalno obrazovanje.

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

Onda sam im rekla: "Ja želim da budem nastavnik".

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

A oni su rekli: "Šta? Zašto?

Why would you want to do that?"

Zašto bi želela to da radiš?"

So I began my teaching career

Tako sam počela moju učiteljsku karijeru,

at the exact same middle school that I attended,

u istoj školi koju sam pohađala od petog do osmog razreda.

and I really wanted to try to save more kids

Zaista sam želela da spasim više dece

who were just like me.

koja su bila kao ja.

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

Svake godine, podelim ispovest o mom poreklu sa učenicima,

because they need to know that everyone has a story,

jer oni treba da znaju da svako ima neku priču,

everyone has a struggle,

da svako ima neku svoju borbu u životu,

and everyone needs help along the way.

i da je svakome potrebna pomoć na tom putu.

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

Ja ću biti njihova pomoć na tom putu.

So as a rookie teacher, I created opportunity.

Kao nastavnik početnik, stvorila sam priliku.

I had a kid one day come into my class

Jednom je klinac došao u moj razred,

having been stabbed the night before.

koji je prethodne noći bio izboden.

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

Rekla sam mu: "Moraš da ideš u bolnicu,

the school nurse, something."

do školske sestre, bilo gde."

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

On je odgovorio: "Ne gospođice, ja ne idem.

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

Ja moram da budem na času jer treba da diplomiram."

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

Znao je da mu neću dozvoliti da bude žrtva

of his circumstance,

sopstvenih okolnosti,

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

nego ćemo nastaviti da se krećemo napred.

And this idea of creating a safe haven for our kids

Ova ideja da stvorimo utočište za našu decu,

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

i da ih upoznamo i razumemo kroz šta sve prolaze,

getting to know their families -- I wanted that,

da upoznamo njihove porodice - ja sam želela to,

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

ali nisam mogla u školi sa 1600 dece,

and teachers turning over year after year after year.

gde se nastavnici menjaju svake godine.

How do you get to build those relationships?

Kako da se ostvari blizak odnos?

So we created a new school.

Osnovali smo novu školu.

And we created

Osnovali smo

the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media.

San Fernando institut za primenjene medije.

And we made sure that we were still attached

Postarali smo se da budemo povezani

to our school district for funding, for support.

sa našim školskim distriktom, zbog finansiranja i podrške.

But with that, we were going to gain freedom:

Ali sa novom školom, obezbedili smo slobodu:

freedom to hire the teachers

slobodu pri zapošljavanju nastavnika,

that we knew were going to be effective;

za koje smo znali da će biti efikasni,

freedom to control the curriculum

slobodu da kontrolišemo nastavni plan

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

kako ne bismo radili lekciju direktno iz knjige, ne,

and freedom to control a budget,

i slobodu da kontrolišemo budžet,

to spend money where it matters,

da trošimo pare tamo gde treba,

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

a ne kako okrug ili država kaže da treba.

We wanted those freedoms.

Mi smo želeli te slobode.

But now, shifting an entire paradigm,

Ali sada, da pomerim čitavu paradigmu,,

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

to nije bio lak put, niti je potpuno završen.

But we had to do it.

Ali morali smo to da uradimo.

Our community deserved a new way of doing things.

Naša zajednica zaslužuje novi pristup stvarima.

And as the very first pilot middle school

Kao prvoj pilot školi od petog do osmog razreda

in all of Los Angeles Unified School District,

u celom losanđeleskom ujedinjenom školskom distriktu,

you better believe there was some opposition.

bilo je dosta opozicije.

And it was out of fear --

I to zbog straha -

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

šta ako ne urade stvari kako treba?

Yeah, what if we get it wrong?

Da, šta ako zabrljamo?

But what if we get it right?

Ali šta ako odradimo sve kako treba?

And we did.

To smo i uradili.

So even though teachers were against it

Iako su nastavnici bili protiv toga

because we employ one-year contracts --

jer zapošljavamo samo sa ugovorima na po godinu dana -

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

ako ne možeš da predaješ ili ne želiš da predaješ

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

ne možeš da budeš u mojoj školi sa mojim učenicima.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

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

U trećoj smo godini, kako smo to postigli?

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

Mi pravimo školu u koju je vredno dolaziti svaki dan,

We make our kids feel like they matter to us.

školu gde se naša deca osećaju da su nam bitna.

We make our curriculum rigorous and relevant to them,

Mi kreiramo nastavni plan, koji je rigorozan i relevantan.

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

Oni koriste svu tehnologiju na koju su navikli.

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

Laptopovi, kompjuteri, tableti - oni sve to imaju.

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

Softver za animaciju, za pravljenje filmova, sve to imaju.

Mi povezujemo nastavni plan sa onim što oni rade.

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

For example, they made public service announcements

Na primer, oni su napisali saopštenje za javnost

za "Društvo za borbu protiv raka".

for the Cancer Society.

These were played in the local trolley system.

Ta saopštenja su puštana u lokalnim trolejbusima.

Teaching elements of persuasion,

Učite ih načinima ubeđivanja,

it doesn't get any more real than that.

ne može praktičnije od toga.

Our state test scores have gone up

Naši rezultati državnih testova su se poboljšali

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

za više od 80 poena od kad imamo našu školu.

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

Ali je potrebno da svi učesnici rade zajedno -

teachers and principals on one-year contracts,

nastavnici i direktori sa jednogodišnjim ugovorima,

working over and above and beyond their contract hours

koji rade prekovremeno

without compensation.

bez dodatne kompenzacije.

And it takes a school board member

A potreban vam je i član školskog odbora

who is going to lobby for you and say,

ko će da se zalaže za vas i kaže:

"Znate, distrikt pokušava da nametne ovo,

"Know, the district is trying to impose this,

but you have the freedom to do otherwise."

ali vi imate slobodu da to uradite drugačije".

And it takes an active parent center

Potrebni su vam angažovani roditelji,

koji ne samo da se pojavljuju u školi

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

nego su i deo uprave,

but who is part of our governance,

donose odluke za svoju decu, našu decu.

making decisions for their kids, our kids.

Because why should our students have to go

Zašto bi naši učenici

so far away from where they live?

putovali tako daleko od kuće?

They deserve a quality school in their neighborhood,

Oni zaslužuju kvalitetno obrazovanje u svom naselju,

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

školu na koju mogu da budu ponosni

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

i školu na koju lokalna zajednica može biti ponosna.

Njima su potrebni nastavnici da se bore za njih svaki dan,

and they need teachers to fight for them every day

i da ih osposobe da krenu dalje od svojih okolnosti.

and empower them to move beyond their circumstances.

Because it's time that kids like me

Došlo je vreme da klinci kao ja,

stop being the exception, and we become the norm.

prestanu da budu izuzeci i postanu pravilo.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)