SATURDAY STORY - DECEMBER 26, 2020

 SATURDAY STORY - DECEMBER 26, 2020

It had been a tough year for pretty much everybody.  Allison Walsh was run ragged.  Her fifth grade class at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School in Kansas City was taxing in the best of years, and 2020 was NOT the best of years.  Eight students didn’t attend class in person but attended class by Zoom - the interactive video conferencing platform.  The other twelve were to be in the classroom, but Allison was reflecting that during the whole fall session, there had been only five days where all twelve were in class.  Toby was gone two weeks when her mom was quarantined for COVID.  Likewise, Jessica was gone for two weeks while her dad was quarantined. Jamal’s mother was sick, so he stayed with his grandmother for a month and Allison was pretty convinced that Jamal told his grandmother that he didn’t have to go to school on some days.

She had to create lesson plans for online students and those students who came to school.  During the previous years, when all students were in class, it was still tough, but by 4:00 most days, she could go home - but during the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed as if she was answering emails in the evening from those students who were at home, or those that had missed for a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

Allison had been a graduate of Winona State University in Winona Minnesota.  After graduation she opted to go to “Teach for America” - a program that placed teachers in tough schools (generally inner-city schools), paid them a good salary, and forgave about 1/3rd of their college debt.  Standing 5 foot 9 inches, and a former high-school and college basketball player, she could handle herself well.  

The first year of teaching was both a delight and a nightmare.  Coming from Rochester Minnesota - where there were a few Black people working at the Mayo-Clinic or for IBM, here at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary, she was an anomaly.  The student body at Harriet Beecher Stowe was 93% black.  The faculty was about 70% black.  

But, she stayed and worked at it.  And, now seven years later, she loved her students, her school, and her environment.  

A dark-haired beauty of Irish heritage, she used her athletic background to have activities that keep the students busy but also learning.  When things got a little rough, she called the students to order and they walked around the school (if the weather was good), twice if they had been a little crazy, or (if the weather was not good), they walked around the room.  

In her first year, Allison was attacked by a man.  She was prepared - a couple of good kicks to his groin, some nifty judo moves, and the man was laying on the ground - dazed.  Her call to 911 brought the police quickly and the word spread on the streets - this lady is off-limits, she is working with our community, and if you attempt to cross her, you are crossing the unspoken law of the neighborhood.  

Although she was raised in a mostly white Catholic congregation in Rochester Minnesota, she found a mostly black Catholic parish in her neighborhood - and could be seen with some frequency at some of the black Protestant churches of the neighborhood as well.  The message went out - although her skin is white, she is one of us!!

She had had some dates but just wasn’t comfortable - so, at age 30, she was still single.

*****

Christmas 2020

Normally, over Christmas Break, Allison went home to Minnesota.  Sometimes she stayed with a brother/sister-in-law in Goodhue, where she could visit her parents in their assisted living facility; sometimes she stayed with her sister/brother-in-law in Farmington; sometimes she stayed with her brother and his partner in St. Paul.  But this year, she wasn’t going to travel.  Her parent’s assisted living facility was on COVID lockdown, her siblings were being cautious as most of the country had become level five with the pandemic.

On her last day of school before the Christmas/New Year’s break, Aliyah Smith, one of her students, came to school bruised and beaten.  The school nurse, Camilla Jones, checked her out and bandaged the wounds as good as she could.  Aliyah said she had fallen down the stairs, but Allison suspected it was child abuse.  

As she said “Goodbye” to her students at the end of the day, she noticed Aliyah hanging around to be the last one to leave.  

“Hi Aliyah,” Allison greeted the little girl.  “Are you feeling better?”

Aliyah was reluctant to say anything.  Although hugging was frowned upon during this COVID pandemic, Allison hugged the girl.

Quietly, Allison said to Aliyah “Are you okay?”

Aliyah didn’t say anything.

Allison sensed that Aliyah didn’t want to go home.

Allison said, “Aliyah, I sense that going home could be a problem for you.” 

The girl nodded ‘yes’, but still didn’t say anything.

Allison asked, “Did somebody beat you up?”

The girl nodded ‘yes’ again and started to cry.  

Aliyah said “My mom’s boyfriend beat me up last night.  He’s done it before - to me and to my mom and to my sister Jada.  As I came to school this morning, I did something wrong and he told me he was going to ‘whoop me good’ when I got home.  

Led by the Holy Spirit within her, Allison asked “Aliyah, would you like to spend Christmas with me?”

This got a response from the girl.  She hugged her teacher tighter, and through tears said meekly giggled “yes”.  

Allison was worried that she had opened a can of worms.  What could she do?  What should she do?  

She knew that Aliyah’s mother was a single mother, but suspected from the idle talk that Aliyah’s mother had different live-in boyfriends and suspected that the current boyfriend was abusive.  It was tough to get a child out of an abusive home.  While Child and Protective Care might step in, the Friday before Christmas break was not going to be an opportune time to find a solution.  

Allison said to Aliyah “Can you stay here for a few minutes while I check out some things?”

Aliyah nodded ‘yes’ and went to the reading corner and pulled off a book to read.  Aliyah loved to read.

Allison walked down the hall and caught Camila Jones on her way out.

“Camilla”, Allison stated, “I think I just crossed a boundary.”

Allison shared the situation with Camilla Jones.  Together they asked Tiara Williams, the school principal to join them.  Allison reminded them that Aliyah was still in her classroom, so they couldn’t be too long.

Tiara listened to the story and made a quick phone call to Kelvin Nguyen, one of the school district's legal counselors.  

Tiara explained the situation to Kelvin.  Tiara stopped to ask Allison, “Do you think the girl is in imminent danger?”  Both times, Allison said ‘yes’.  Again, in a few more minutes, Tiara asked Allison and Camilla about the bruises and wounds.  This time, Camilla said “I was worried when I saw her.  A few of the wounds were really deep- more than just slaps and bruised, but like he might have taken his belt to the girl or hit her with some object like a beer bottle.

The phone conversation was put on speaker as Tiara asked Allison if she could take the girl home for the holidays.  Allison asserted she could.  

Kelvin indicated that he would agree with that solution as the imminent danger, coupled with the long vacation time, warranted an immediate decision.  Tiara, as the school principal, would go to Aliyah’s home to explain to the mother what was happening, but not mention that Aliyah would be spending the holidays with Allison, only that the girl was being put into protective coverage until a more thorough analysis could take place.  

Tiara would also get some clothes for the girl.  The district had an emergency thrift storage that should work for that.

*****

The meeting finished. Tiara went to Aliyah’s mother’s home - and found her also with bruises and abrasions.  The boyfriend was not there, but Tiara managed to get what sounded like a reasonable story that, yes, the boyfriend was abusive, especially when he was smoking weed and driving heavily.  Tiara tried to suggest to Aliyah’s mother to end the relationship, but she broke down and cried - “He will kill me”.  

Tiara suggested that the mother go to a safe-house for the week - as well as her daughter Jade.  Aliyah would spend the break with her teacher, Allison.

Tiara arranged for the police to interview Sara Smith at the safe house, and charges were issued on the boyfriend (who had a history of abuse and arrests).

And, Aliyah stayed with Allison for Christmas break.  And they had an awesome time together!!!

*****

Friends, there are many hurting people - and definitely more this year with COVID.  

Open your hearts to those in need - let the Holy Spirit guide you to help those that need love this year.

LOVE DOES WIN - but it often takes people like you and me to be on alert to let our love shine!!

Merry Christmas!!

HUGS!!!

Karen