His teasing of fellow classmates became far less caustic. He actually encouraged others to write, and he voluntarily began to help with less able students. Near the end of the year, he began talking about going away to college. I had never seen him touch anyone at school before. He was happy and as he talked, he brought up the essay of place he had written and how much he had enjoyed writing it.
Teachers can go a long time on the energy from such moments.
Working in the Montana Heritage Project, we had created a class in which a young man was simply accepted as a member of a worthwhile community, a class without tests to prove anything, a class of friends working in groups and complementing each other s strengths and compensating for each other s weaknesses. One kid, at least, tells us such things matter. He still comes back to high school to visit our classes each time he is home from college. These are good occasions, full of good-natured teasing. But nothing else had worked for a disillusioned, cynical young man with a dislike of others and inability to work with them.