Fernanda Essay

Fernanda Essay At my school in Texas, students caught drinking or using drugs (and whose parents weren’t powerful) would be sent to a trailer across the street from the school for 45 to 90 days. They had to work silently and independently—if their teachers sent them work to do at all. Fernanda, a Mexican-American student—migrant, single-mother, very aware of her darker skin in the school community—was sent there. 

I had decided not to teach greek mythology in 10th grade. Instead, we read Chicana poems from the 70’s and the primary source mythology they were drawing on to contest US imperialism. “When are we going to study real mythology?”

I walked over to visit Fernanda twice a week, and we corresponded online as well. This is what she wrote during that time. (application/pdf)