Beware the fury of a first grader scorched.
For a class of students at Public School 1 in Manhattan, this weeks heat wave was a lesson in what it meant to be a have-not. Their peers across the hall had air-conditioning; they did not.
So when it came time to practice writing persuasive essays, the students in Karin Mas class had an obvious injustice in mind (their sweaty brows, dampened spirits) and an equally clear target (their principal, Amy Hom).
We need an air conditioner we are dieing pleause let us have a air conditioner, Nicole Mei wrote. We cant read if we are so hot water/are going to be in our eyes. if we dont have one I cant write, read or listen.
If we dont have an air conditioner I will be seweting like a bear, Jayla Pecheco warned.
Ms. Ma said she let her students pick their own essay topics.
For first graders, she said, we want them to move up and write to the president and talk about the war, but in reality, thats not what theyre thinking about this is what theyre thinking about. Its about their immediate lives.
And their immediate lives were uncomfortable, as they graphically explained, with first-grader spelling and all. With several days of summerlike temperatures, their only relief came Thursday, which was a professional development day when only teachers and administrators had to come to school.
Like many of the citys public schools, P.S. 1 is partly air-conditioned, but 15 of its classrooms either have broken units or none at all. A Department of Education official said 61 percent of the citys classrooms were air-conditioned. Schools that were built more recently have central air, but older ones like P.S. 1, which is the citys first public school, do not.
Ms. Hom said she found the students letters amusing and said they had a point she wished she could squeeze a few air conditioners out of her budget.
Ms. Mas class of 6- and 7-year-olds illustrated their pain. One drew a split image of happy students in a classroom with air-conditioning, and themselves sweating and passed out on the floor with Xs over their eyes.
Tracy Liu drew an image of herself, mouth turned down, sweat (or tear) drops falling off. Its not fair, the girl wails. |
