workshops; teachers began to discuss the habits with the students during
advocacy period, and building administrators conducted workshops.
Slowly, the culture began to change. Teachers became more civil to each
other and to the students. In 2002 after one huge gang fight, instead of
sending 42 gang members to an alternative school, I called them together
and discussed their behavior and how they might use the habits to stop the
violence and bring peace to the campus and to their daily lives. I prom-
ised a trip to New York City to see Ground Zero if we had no more gang
fights for an entire year. The gang members kept their promise, and I
kept mine.
I should not have been surprised by the reaction when I sought assis-
tance from the district to fund a trip to New York City for a group of gang
members. “I would keep this very quiet,” I was told by individuals within
the school district. “People are going to think you are crazy for making
such a request.” I began to hear rumblings from the teachers that I was
rewarding bad behavior and that it was clear that I was a student advo-
cate, not a teacher advocate. This was the first time that it had occurred
to me that someone would think that those two positions were mutually
exclusive. Still, I practiced the Habits of Mind and persevered. As the end
of the year and the time for the field trip approached, the students had
kept their word and we had had no gang fights. I had not been able to
raise funds to cover the expenses for the trip. I was about to decide that I
should encourage the students to have a “baby” gang fight so I could save
face. Suddenly, I began to receive checks from all over the country, con-
gratulating me for my efforts and wishing to contribute. Art Costa, Bena
Kallick, and Marian Leibowitz had spread the word, and before I knew it,
I had received sufficient funding for 32 gang members to take the trip to
New York City.
One of the highlights of the trip occurred when a street gang,
obviously identifying us as “gangstas,” attempted to pick a fight with the
Furr students. Alfredo, a burly gang leader with a long, curly ponytail,
approached me and whispered, “Miss, get us out of here before we get
into a gang fight right in the middle of New York City! We are trying to
practice managing impulsivity, but this is a new skill for us and I don’t
know how long we can hold out.” We got out of there fast and enjoyed the
A “Throwaway” School No More 345