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Betty Perez, grandparent of Orr High School student: I am one of the volunteer greeters at Orr:
I’m at the school at 7:15 every morning, talking to the kids and checking their uniforms and bags. I was here when AUSL first came in and I remember that, in the beginning, a lot of the children didn’t want to wear uniforms and the kids would mostly ignore us greeters. But then they got used to us being here.
One morning, a little while after the AUSL changes, I was out in front of the school and a young student came up and gave me a hug. He just reached out and wanted a hug. I didn’t even know him! That’s the kind of thing I couldn’t have imagined ever happening before this year.
We get involved with the kids and we help them, we listen to them.
When people find out I volunteer at Orr, some of them say, “Why are you down there? That’s a bad school!” Nobody believes that it’s a changed school. But I see the changes in these kids. They show up early to class. They’re more polite. And they’re more respectful. I’m here every day, and I see the changes.
If you do what you say and stick to it, it works. |
