Without any knowledge of their proud backgrounds, the eagles simply assumed they were chickens and never learned to fly. One day, however, an adult eagle arrived and told the young eagles of their true identities. He encouraged them to fly away with him. Two of the eagles gathered confidence and took to the air, but the third was too broken-spirited to even try. For its teachers, Roxbury Prep presents special challenges.
Students arrive from public schools with a wide range of abilities.
It's easy to get frustrated in that situation and focus on activities that don't really improve skills. To overcome these problems, teachers must develop course work that makes learning fun and relevant. In Jamie White's English class, for example, students read autobiographies by prominent African-Americans, then write their own autobiographical pieces. Later the teacher introduces her students to poems, myths, and short stories. But writing is not just an exercise in self-expression, argues White.