I know adjunct faculty members who meet with students at the student center or the local coffee shop because they don’t have offices in academic buildings. I know custodians who, aside from keeping schools clean and safe, mentor kids who are at loose ends. I know teachers who dig deep into their own pockets to provide supplies their students need.
So it’s not surprising to read the inspiring stories of educators in Columbus and Deming, N.M. (“Passport to Education,” Page 28.) They wholeheartedly believe in their responsibility to educate every single student, whether that student crosses the street to attend school, or crosses the border.
As educators, we are committed to nurturing all of our students. New Mexico’s constitution actually takes that heartfelt commitment a step further by mandating that students can attend public schools wherever they reside or “are present.” That language cuts through all of the red tape, rigmarole, and rhetoric about the border, allowing educators to focus fully on students.
Unlike other professions, educators don’t take an oath of office, per se. Presidents solemnly swear to “support and defend” the U.S. Constitution. Doctors recite the Hippocratic Oath. Lawyers promise to abide by codes of professionalism or standards of conduct. Educators don’t make these kinds of professional promises in a public ceremony; instead, our oath is written on our hearts. We embody it by helping students discover their passions, encouraging them to fall in love with learning, and pouring into them every resource we have so they can become the people they’re destined to be.
Says one educator: “I’m here to educate everybody at my door.”
We need this kind of commonsense philosophy today. We are separating babies from their parents at the border. The president himself gleefully stirs anger and resentment toward people who are making desperate choices for the good of their families.
Faithfully, educators on the border go about doing the work they love— connecting with every student, every day. The circumstances can bring complications to their jobs, but they figure these challenges out.
I am just as awed by these educators’ phenomenal students. They already understand the value of education, and they know that it sometimes means sacrifice. It might mean waking up at an ungodly hour to make the trek to school. These students know that the sacrifi ces are worthwhile. To the students, the parents who get them up early and greet them at the end of a long day, and the educators who nurture and support them, the border is not a barrier. The students’ dreams are just on the other side. If they can get across the border, they can reach them.
