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Home > Schooled > S. 02 Ep. 04: What we went through


	Podcast:		Schooled
	Episode:		S. 02 Ep. 04: What we went through
	Category:		Education
	Duration:		00:38:30
	Publish Date:		2018-04-25 04:01:03
	Description:		It’s a school day. Before dawn. The streets are mostly still, and teacher Bahir Hayes is getting himself in the mindset to do battle. “We are fighting crime, poverty and deficits, and we’re trying to close the achievement gap. You have to mentally prepare yourself to get through this or you won’t,” said Hayes. Hayes is the fifth grade english teacher at Philadelphia’s Mastery Charter School at John Wister elementary. It’s his sixth year in the classroom, and he’s learned that to do the job right, it starts as soon as you wake up. “You already are putting yourself in the mind of a warrior. And that sounds real figurative, but it’s almost kind of literal. You are putting your armor on.” He gets in his car, drives to the school. It’s silent. No music. No radio. “You have got to be here before the kids do to greet them with a handshake and a smile,” said Hayes. “But let alone, the day hasn’t even started yet. This is just the preparation for the battle.” He gets to school. Greets the kids. Already, there are landmines on the battlefield. “They might have not ate breakfast. They’re coming in late. They may not get the lesson. Someone wants to be silly. There was a fight in the neighborhood. There were words that were exchanged days before that you didn’t know about that you have to stop and address,” he said. “That’s all a part of the battle, adjusting to your opponent — the opponent in a figurative sense of whatever is stopping you from the goal of getting these kids to where they need to be.” In Philadelphia’s East Germantown neighborhood, those opponents are plenty. Generational poverty, substance abuse, violence. And once the day begins, he’s immersed in this battle. He’s teaching lessons, diffusing problems, maintaining order in the lunchroom, coaching basketball during recess, sometimes talking with parents, doing grades, prepping. He can barely feel time pass. “It’s like when a racecar driver is driving a car, while that race is going on, they’re not really breathing; they’re just driving,” he said. “And that’s what we’re doing. We’re not breathing; we’re teaching.” To Wister English teacher Bahir Hayes, the classroom is a battlefield, and the opponent is anything that gets in the way of student learning. (Jessica Kourkounis/WHYY) Hayes, who also grew up in a low-income Philadelphia neighborhood, is out to show students that there’s another way, and that his english lessons can be as exciting as gym class. “And in fact, it’ll take you even further, because if you utilize these skills I’m giving you, you’ll be able to find your own battlefield that you can fight on, and get the spoils of war. I am going too deep with this,” Hayes said, suddenly laughing at how far he stretched the analogy. “I actually just saw like a little preview of “Game of Thrones” not too long ago, so….” The story of Jovan Weaver and Wister Elementary can also be experienced as a radio documentary. The tale is told across the four-episode second season of our podcast “Schooled.” It’s based on more than two years of reporting about the students, the parents, the faculty, and the huge political fight that sprung from Wister Elementary. You can listen using the play button above. This is part four, the finale.
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