Martin Luther King's Legacy
Forty-five years after the "I Have a Dream" speech, ordinary citizens across the country are giving it all they've got to keep Dr. King's vision for a better future alive—including a Los Angeles bus driver named Tanya.
"About eight years ago, I was driving a rough route," she says. "Most of the kids on my bus were known for getting suspended, kicked out of school."
Recognizing their daily struggle, Tanya decided to try a special approach. "I learned to speak to my students everyday," she says. "I learned to smile at them, I learned to give them a hug if they needed a hug. I learned to give them encouragement, and from that I built trust."
With each day, Tanya became more and more invested in the future of her students. "I asked each one of them to show me their report card. And I was shocked to find out the majority of my students were failing," she says. "I said, 'How is it that I'm bringing you to school everyday and still you're failing? I don't understand.' I decided to challenge each student to bring up their grades."
"About eight years ago, I was driving a rough route," she says. "Most of the kids on my bus were known for getting suspended, kicked out of school."
Recognizing their daily struggle, Tanya decided to try a special approach. "I learned to speak to my students everyday," she says. "I learned to smile at them, I learned to give them a hug if they needed a hug. I learned to give them encouragement, and from that I built trust."
With each day, Tanya became more and more invested in the future of her students. "I asked each one of them to show me their report card. And I was shocked to find out the majority of my students were failing," she says. "I said, 'How is it that I'm bringing you to school everyday and still you're failing? I don't understand.' I decided to challenge each student to bring up their grades."
Published 03/14/2008