The first two days in David's classroom I was 'Mrs. Forth, volunteer'. One of the things David does for the students is give them something special and that is cinnamon toast. Normally he is back and forth using a dinky toaster oven making treats for 30 kids each class. With me there he had a 'Chef" and was relieved of kitchen duty. (One other thing the program does is fix breakfast for all 400 students one morning a month), just something to make them feel special.
For those two days the classes were courteous and respectful, one of the major things this program stresses. David refers to his class when talking to them as a whole as 'Ladies and Gentlemen'. Maybe a bit old fashioned for us 'enlightened northerners' but I think it is wonderful. He is giving them respect, the same respect he expects in return.
We spend the evenings working on the story. David really wants me to read it to his classes but I can barely make it through the first page without getting emotional. He says "That's great! They will get the full impact!" Really??!! Come on son, this still rips at my heart and I AM NOT GOING TO READ IT OUT LOUD! I finally convince him with my subtlety that he has to be my 'voice' and frankly he reads out loud with great flair being a broadcast journalism major. Besides, I will be reading the epilogue to the classes with the surprise punch at the end and that will be difficult enough.
We make copies of the story so that the students can read along if they choose. There are also 'questions' pertaining to the story that David will verbally ask the student's just to see if they understand the material.
I will be sitting in the front of the room to one side (David doesn't want us too close together, wants to make sure the kids don't pick up on our resemblance too soon) and David will be about 10 feet away. There are also two video cameras each trained on one of us. Drama in spades!
Thursday morning arrives, we are both excited. We follow our now normal morning routine at home. My bedroom is downstairs and my handsome son brings me coffee along with a good morning hug and kiss. As we get in the car to leave for school David asks one more time if I am sure about not reading the story myself. I think my look at him which pretty much said 'What the Hell??' got his attention. He smiled, chuckled and said "OK Ma, just thought I would check". Cheeky boy, really cheeky!
All of the faculty knows about our reunion and by now they know about our plan. We will be presenting the story for 3 classes on Thursday, 3 classes on Friday and then 4 on Monday. Several teachers want to bring in their class so now we go from 30 kids to 50 or so each time! No stress at all, not a bit, I am just fine!!
David's first class comes in on Thursday. As they settle in their seats he begins, sitting on a stool, looking at them over the top's of his reading glasses.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Our class will be different today. You have all known Mrs. Forth as a volunteer this week who made you toast. She wanted a chance to become comfortable with you all before we presented the real real reason she is here. She has written a very personal story, one that is true that we felt would benefit all of you. I will be reading the story aloud, you have a copy in front of you that you may read silently along with me or just listen. At the end of the story I will ask you questions but there will be no grade. I just want to make sure you understand the story. Then Mrs. Forth will read the epilogue."
David begins reading aloud. As I look around the room at the kids, eyes meet mine then quickly dart away. Other students lock eyes with me for a few seconds. The room is so quiet you can hear a pin drop. As the story progresses I gaze at these wonderful kids again and see each and everyone of them reading along silently. As David turns the page you can hear and see each of these students simultaneously do the same. The sound of their pages turning, in a room so very, very quiet, digs into my heart. They are really listening, reading, they understand.
As David reads the last line, 'Page gave me the greatest gift of all.....this one to take home', I see tears welling in many. So many of these kids are seeing me through new eyes, not just this older lady who made them toast. They are seeing me as the teen I was.
When David begins asking the questions about the story I am stunned by how many answer together. He emphasizes key points, he wants to make sure they get the seriousness of the story. It is immediately evident that that do.
Now my turn. A bit anxious, a bit emotional, just a bit of everything. As I begin to read the epilogue, they begin to understand that I began my search for my child only 3 months earlier. I can see the surprise in faces, some of the kids are still having trouble making eye contact with me. I know this is hitting home with a lot of them. Maybe they were adopted and now have an idea of what it was like for their birth parents to give them up. Maybe they were kept and raised by a teen mother who had to struggle to get through each day. Maybe they have been pregnant or fathered a child. Whatever was going through their minds, it was readable on their faces.
When I get to the end and they know I have found my son I say "My son has a name and it is David............but you all know him as Mr. Pollock". With that one line recognition begins, dead silence for several seconds, heads are whipping between me and David then eruption!! 'No way!, I knew it!, You gotta be kidding! Wow!! David and I move to one another laughing with huge smiles and hug.
Things settle down a bit and David pulls me close with his arm around me, points at our faces and says "you think?!" It was the most amazing moment and each and every class had the same intensity and thrill for me, for us both.
Then the questions begin and I have to tell you I was absolutely amazed that it was the boys asking 90% of them. Intelligent questions, some we anticipated some we didn't. David stressed to the students that we weren't doing this to be the center of attention. He wanted them to see the aftermath of teen pregnancy, what one outcome can be. It was difficult at times because there were several girls who were pregnant in the classes. My heart sank a bit looking at them knowing what they would be dealing with not matter their choice, whether or not they kept their baby or gave it up for adoption. Hard, so very hard either way.
On each day of our presentation, we had feedback in various ways. One student was in tears because of a difficult family life and just needed a hug. Another young man came back into the classroom with arms out stretched and chin quivering. As I hugged him back he said "thank you for Mr. Pollock". You have no idea how that made my heart soar. I knew David was doing wonderful things in this Success Program but having a 17 year old boy confirm that with tears in his eyes and in a broken voice just gave me a warmth that is hard to describe. There were many other kids who came in to talk or just wanted to give me a hug.
At the end of each class David asked if they had liked the surprise at the end. To a person they did. He asked them to please keep it a secret so that other classes could experience it too. Amazingly, most of the other classes didn't know that we were mother and son until the end. Pretty gratifying that they could keep it quiet - not sure I could have!
One of the funniest things happened on Friday after school. All of a sudden three girls appear at the door to David's classroom. Two of the girls were identical twins and one had been in one of our classes but the other had not. The one twin who didn't know the 'secret' was begging for David to tell her, her twin refused! All I could think of was how hammered the 'knowing twin' would be all weekend by her inquisitive sister. I told the three of them to come in and shut the door. This time 'I' read the story and David read the epilogue. What was really something was the ending - the two who didn't know were stunned that David was the child given up in my story.
I feel so blessed to have been at L.C. Bird High School - it is a wonderful arena of learning and hope. I have a new family in Richmond and not just David and his family. I get to go back and see these kids and David's colleagues. How lucky am I!
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