Learning is a Road We Make Together – Two Legends Inspire Poets and Write Poetry for the ACE Poetry Contest
By Max, San Francisco International High School ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, and Vlada Teper, poet, writer and founding teacher at SFIHS
Max, SFIHS ACE Poetry Contest Mascot.
Bark, bark. Max here. I’m the ACE Poetry Contest Mascot at San Francisco International High School (SFIHS.)
Ms. Vlada, like my father Mr. Jose, has been at SFIHS since the beginning, so we’re both legends. I want to give Ms. Vlada a bark-out because she started this really cool club at the school that used to be called Peace Club. She and the students really like to learn about non-violent communication in this club and they always plan really fun learning activities for us at school.
I can’t wait until we go back to in-person (ahem, in-dog) learning because they also cook delicious food from all over the world and share it with all of us at the school! Yum!
Ms. Vlada is also a great poet with great cred. Her poetry has appeared in publications like Oberon, Tuliptree Review, The Potomac Journal and The Mind’s Eye. And now her poetry is here to inspire all you poets for the ACE Poetry Contest. This year, she is teaching SFIHS Juniors Computer Programming and College and Career classes. SFIHS Huskies rock poetry, even in JavaScript.
The Road
With gratitude to Paolo Freire
“Miss, we need to
Practice coding
Every day, not just
One time next week,”
My student corrects me
the day before Spring Break.
“Otherwise, we forget.
It is very easy
To forget.”
I agree. JavaScript
Can really be the first
To go.
What else is on the brink
Of extinction? Which skills, which words,
Particularly in a pandemic?
In all truth, JavaScript
Is the least of my
Concerns. We will review
It this coming Tuesday. I
Worry about the student who
Lost his smile. About the student
Who forgets to ask questions,
Because which question do
You start with when there
Are about a million?
I worry about the black
Squares on the monitor that
Are not there today,
Because they are working.
Because survival is survival.
The disappearances these
Days are multi-faceted. They speak
Different tongues, co-existing
All at once. Still,
I turn on Zoom and say, “Good Morning.”
The shy, sleepy, excited, confused voices,
Emojis,
Words,
Remind me that learning is always a road,
A one day, one step at a time road,
A road we make together.
Awesome poem, bark, bark. We can’t wait to see more Huskies poetry.