Junkyard Genius

In 1998-1999 I had the opportunity to teach high school English at a small charter school on the Navaho Reservation. Despite the challenges I faced that year, the experience proved to be one of the most rewarding I have ever undertaken.

The majority of the students I taught faced a number of obstacles in their lives, including absentee parents, alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, and domestic violence. Despite this fact, they continued to believe that education was capable of improving their lives. At times, it was difficult to believe this was the case.

I recently heard from a friend who shared the following story. It involves a student who attends a neighboring school and who has received local and national recognition for a project he undertook to help his mother heat her home. The local NBC affiliate in Phoenix aired the story, which is an inspirational one. If nothing else, it serves as a testament to the strength of the human spirit, and the power of the imagination.