Chapter Six ----- Diamonds in the Rough

“Dang, you found me,” said Gina Salazar Duran in mock complaint.

Just a few weeks prior to my arrival at 9:45 PM on this Saturday, 29 September, Gina, her dad (David), her grandparents, and a few other family members had moved from 37th Avenue South to a house on the 3900 block of Clinton Avenue South. Gina actually will split time with her dad at the new address and her mom, who still resides in an apartment building near Pleasant and West Lake Street. Until a grand reshuffling of residences in the extended family that also includes Helena Duran, Orlando Marcos Duran, Carlos Marcos Duran, Mateo Duran, and Maria Salazar Duran; the latter two had lived in the house on 37th Avenue South along with Gina and many others.

In a pattern that holds for many of the families of students in the New Salem Educational Initiative, I would pick Gina up at 7:30 PM as part of the Saturday evening group that included cousins Mateo and Maria. An alteration of that pattern was the reason for my visit on this particular evening. Gina is a very different personality by comparison with Mateo and Maria. She was functioning below grade level in both math and reading upon entrance into the New Salem Educational Initiative, but she was much closer to grade level standard in both areas than were her cousins. In reading, the lag time was very short before she was functioning fully at grade level. Math has been more of s struggle in getting all of the previously neglected concepts under control, but Gina internalized my academic ethic very quickly, applied herself week after week, and by the end of academic year 2010-2011 had risen very close to grade level performance across a range of mathematical skill areas.

Gina is of very high intelligence and has keen powers of concentration. She is steadier in mood and attitude, and her level of self-confidence is many rungs higher than that of Mateo and Maria. In the course of academic year 2010-2011, I came to feel that Gina would be better placed with two students (Tomas Vasco-Delano and Xavier Renaldo Cruz) of comparable grade level (now Grade 6) whose steadiness of demeanor and degree of academic focus match her own. Gina, similarly to others in her family, had had an active summer that included forays out of town and various events that had precluded my getting together with her very often.

Upon my appearance at her new doorstep, we proceeded to talk about her summer, the shift of residence, and the switch to a new school (from Whittier K-5 to Folwell Middle School).

“So, you’re okay with these changes?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I like the new house, even though I’m just here on weekends. I stay with my mom during the week. And I like the new school, even though I still wish that I was in the fifth grade.”

This was a point of curiosity for Gina. Even though she was confident in her academic ability, and was a keen reader who, for example, worked her way through all of the Twilight series, the grade levels describing middle school and high school held something of a mystique for her. At one point during her Grade 5 year, she told me she would just as soon repeat Grade 5--- certainly not for academic reasons but more for fear of what lay ahead more nebulously in middle school and high school.

Part of her reluctance to move on may involve the societal expectations of and pressures on preteen girls. Gina once confided in me that she is not a “girly girl.” She is attracted to boys, but she eschews fancy hairdos, make-up, and frilly clothes. She seems very clear that she wants to be a police officer and has started to explore what this will mean in terms of police academy training and pertinent undergraduate studies. Gina has a maturity beyond her years, and anyone with this trait in her or his personality profile can find middle school a daunting and even repugnant proposition.

“Well, as you and I have discussed,” I replied, "you gotta move on. You made so much progress last year, and I know that you can be at the top of your class this year.”

“Not in math.”

“Yes, in math, too. You’ve got that great focus that I was always giving you your propers for, and you came such a long way. We’re going to go right into MCA math training this year, and I know that by April you’ll be among the top students in the state.”

“You really think so?” “I do. You know that I always go on the real.”

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll sure work hard. Maybe you’re right.”

“Count on it.”

“Say, it’s a little late for tutoring, isn’t it? Am I going to be going at the same time on Saturdays this year?”

“No. I just took Mateo and Maria back home. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

In terms respectful of Mateo and Maria but obviously in praise of Gina, I told her about my idea of a switch in groups. Gina understood and in some measure seemed relieved.

“That may be better,” she said. “I liked going with my cousins, but I know Xavier from school last year, and I hear that Tomas is good guy.”

“Yeah, they’re on their way, too. They race to my car on Friday evenings and compete with each other when we read out loud. They have all kinds of comments to make on things that we read together. Lots of energy. Lotta pizzazz. Come a long way since they enrolled as second graders. They are some of my diamonds in the rough, just like you.”

“Diamonds in the rough? What does that mean?”

“It’s all good. I was lucky enough to find you--- and so many of my other students. You’re my shiny gems. When I found you, when you enrolled in my program, you had some rough places, but you were so rare, no one like you, just a very valuable gem all ready to shine.”

“I like that. I like the way you say things. So you think I’m like a diamond, huh?”

“Sure do. You really are so very smart Gina. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do now. I do think so. And I’ve always been interested in things to read and stuff to learn. But I didn’t think of myself as smart until you kept telling me and made me feel that way.”

“Well, I guess you just made my day. It’s been a good one anyway, but that may have been the topper. So I’ll pick you up about 7:00 next Friday to go with Xavier and Tomas, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll be ready.”

I turned to go but looked back as I made my way to the car. Gina was standing right where she had been when I made my turn. She was casting a glowing smile.

“Wow, I like that smile,” I said. “Wassup with that?”

“I like the idea of the new group. We’ll have a lot of fun and learn a lot, the three of us in that group. I think this diamond is really going to be shinin’ by the end of this year.”