Homework From The Hospital

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

What if you had a condition that only allowed you to go to school about half the time? Would you graduate from high school? At what age? How high would your educational achievement be? This is the challenge facing my student.

I teach Eighth Grade students from a very low sociol-economic area of California.

There are an enormous amount of variables that would prohibit them from even showing up to school, let alone, achieving success. But somehow, some way, they continue to come to school daily and resist the temptation of gangs, easy money and drugs they see every day on their way to school. Except for one student, who for the last 10 years has been in and out of the hospital with a condition known as Cystic Fibrosis (CF). It's a disease that effects the pancreas and lungs and the maxium life expectancy is about 34 years. She needs constant medication and frequent visits to the hospital in order to stabilize her condition. One day she's in class and then you don't see her for a month. I learned of the chronic disease only this year and have made it my mission to try and educate this child regardless of where she is each day. Since she is constantly in the hospital, a computer would greatly benefit her education.

My Project

My students need a computer in order to complete assignments from the hospital. In our technological world we live in, it's possible to educate from afar, i.e. online classes, iPhones, laptops, etc. Without the resources to supply these devices, it's a huge challenge to reach out and educate effectively. This computer can open up the world to new possibilities in education for our children. Emailing teachers, completing assignments, researching, there are so many avenues to education. When I walk into my student's hospital room and see her watching television or reading a book, I see a student who wants to reach out, but can't. She's alone in a room and has no connection to the outside school world for the time she is in isolation. She's being left behind and I can't allow that to happen. She's fallen behind in all her classes because teachers can't email her assignments and her mother has four other kids to tend to and can't always pick up her work and drop it off. Something needs to be done.

I'm only trying to help one student.

But in helping her I think we have a great impact on her life, her family's life and we give her hope to continue to be strong. We all know education is the key to success on many if not all levels. As educators we try to instill this into all of our students. When we come across a student who wants to learn but is in a circumstance that won't allow it, we fight for them. This student is my hero and always will be so I will fight. Let her be your hero too.