American Sniper

Have you seen this movie?  I haven't. But many of our veterans have. And if you come to the VRC sometime, you'll hear that it opened up old wounds and brought back memories they want to forget.  You'll also hear that as much as the movie brought back bad memories, our vets were more hurt and upset by comments and jokes from other movie goers about the value of this war and how worthless it was.

"Doesn't it mean something to people that I was willing to give my life, even for this worthless war, so that they don't have to?"

So if  you are planning to watch the movie, will you keep in mind that there may be servicemen and women in the movie theater? And that whatever your opinion is about the war, or the military or the politics about the war, you should remember that there might be someone in the movie theater who did live through that experience, did see his/her buddy blown up to shreds, who still continues to live with survivor's guilt and a multitude of physical and emotional injuries.

If you have watched the movie, or want to watch the movie, may I invite you to the VRC at Foothill to talk to a vet about their time in the military?  Listen to their experience and perspective on what it was like out there?  Or perhaps start a conversation with a veteran you meet about life after combat? If you need some help, like I did, here's a good video to help you out.  Thank you.

Got Access?

I suppose in this very first blog, I should explain why I named this blog Access to Learning. Actually,  I've had this blog site for a while (several years in fact), but between work, kids, and all the craziness that we call life, it sat empty.  I got the idea for this blog when I was teaching in the Transition to Work (TTW) program at Foothill.

Teaching in this program got me thinking about all of the benefits that the college experience brings to students.  TTW is a program serving young adults who have developmental disabilities. Most of our students won't ever go on to earn a 2 year degree or vocational certificate.  Our best graduates get jobs at retail stores or at the local cinema as ushers. Others wind up as volunteers with non-profit agencies folding mailers, looking after animals or shelving books.  These are, by no means, your poster children for student success.

And yet, every year, at graduation, parents and our alumni gush at their accomplishment of finishing one year at Foothill.  "My son has friends!", "My daughter loved going to school and she has never loved school ever", "She's taken Caltrain to Foothill the whole year and never got lost!". Two years ago, one parent had tears in her eyes because that was the first time her son was asked to speak on behalf of the class. This young man, who rarely speaks at home and went to therapist after therapist to get him talking, nailed his presentation in front of an audience of 200.  

That got me to wondering why this group of young adults always get left out of college.  No one ever recruits them, they don't see college counselors in high school (I suppose the assumption is that they'll never go anyway). Instead they have transition specialists, job coaches, to help them transition out of school to "life". In other words, as soon as high school's over, their access to formal education, is gone. If you are a parent of a child with special needs, this is the day you dread the most.  What are they going to do?  While everyone else has access to some form of education beyond high school, this very group that needs it the most, has virtually none.  It really infuriates me- those who need school and education the most, get shut out.  The smartest and brightest are always going to land on their feet. It's those who can't, that we need to help, who need this access. 

So why Access to Learning? Why the blog you say? Well, I really wanted a place to document  and record the stories of these students- not just TTW students, but many of the at-risk students I work with.  Some have pretty severe disabilities, some are veterans who can't understand civilian life, and some who just plain drive you crazy but you know have no where else to go. I hope to do them justice by telling their stories, and while everyone else has their had wrapped up in big data, I hope no one forgets those who never quite make it into the dataset.