Monthly Archives: April 2025

The Forgotten Purse

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Sister Brenda got off the church bus tired and sleepy. With her big black tote, she walked into the restroom then got a hot chocolate from Dunkin’ Donuts. She was thankful for the mini break.

When she got back on the bus she sat comfortably. Everyone was eatting and the lights turned off. The bus driver, Deacon McCloud, left the rest area and picked up the speed on the turnpike.

“I left my purse!” Sister Brenda yelled frantically.

“You did what?! Sister Brenda?!”

“What was in it?”

Everyone begin to ask her questions as the bus inched over the George Washington bridge.

“Did you have money in it?”

“How much?”

“My iPad is in it -with all my memories!!” She sobbed.

The questions stopped and everyone begin to brainstorm. Finally, someone got the number to John Fenwick Service area. But no one picked up.

“Let’s pick it up on our way back.”

Sister Brenda wasn’t happy but what could she do? She tried to stop worrying about it. The weekend came to an end and the church trip ended. All the people hugged. “Peace Be!” The church family climbed the bus while the saints in New York waved.

Sister Brenda went to sleep. Everyone went to sleep but Deacon McCloud. Thoughts about the past weekend was heavy on everyone’s mind. The sermons, the conversations, the food, the songs…

The bus left the Bronx. It breezed pass what was left of the city and rolled into the George Washington Bridge. It hit traffic. It sped up. Then, it slowed down again. New Jersey vanished as well as the service area, John Fenwick…

“My purse!!” Sister Brenda yelled with hope. “My Purse!!”

People near her woke. Others repositioned their bodies. Deacon McCloud looked into the rearview mirror with blood shot eyes. He gripped the wheel and asked in his most patience voice.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Remind me earlier? I’ll swing the bus back.”

Sister Brenda stood up this time. Fighting sleep. She watched the driver make a wide turn.

“This is not the station.” she said matter of factly when he creeped up to it. “It is too!” They began to banter about which service station she left her bag. She never got off the bus because she was now confused. “My bag” she whispered. She went back to her seat.

The bus driver drove the bus back to the south. As the people awoke, they were surprised she still didn’t have her bag! They begin to brainstorm.

“Can’t someone who is passing the station get the purse?”

“There are other buses.”

“The bus going to Virginia will get it!” Someone hung up their phone.

“Nope, Virginia already passed the station too!” Someone else hung up their phone.

“The bus going to South Carolina will get it!” Another person in the back chimed in.

But the South Carolina bus couldn’t describe the bag well enough. They left.

A week passed and Sister Branda thought about her iPad. She focused on all her pictures she took and songs she wrote. Imagining each song help to drown out the voices of doubt. There were plenty. Some whispered and other voices said it loud and clear.

“You can always get another iPad.”

“You probably won’t get your bag back.”

“You know how big that station is!?“

Then she got a call. A couple who lived in New Jersey and attended the conference got the news. They lived right next to the station! It was nothing for them to casually stop by. And it was nothing for the service station to hand over the big black bag with all of Sister Brenda’s belongings. Her money she forgot she had and the iPad with all the memories.

Pocahontas

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This year my social studies class is a combined class. The fourth grade and fifth grade students learn side by side.

I follow the fifth grade curriculum.

Today, we are going to watch a movie I said to all the students. Immediately a celebration took course.

Yayyy!!!

They smiled at one another while I waited for them to settle down.

They were so excited. No doubt their thrills were heard down the hallway and out the front door.

Class, do you ever watch movies with Ms. Hurley?

Noooo!!!

They were still exited.

So will this be for pure entertainment?

Very few answered. They were t sure what to expect next.

We will take notes and analyze the pictures. This is called, Art and Race Relations. In Stamped from the Beginning, their reading companion, they read about the corruption of Disney movies. There was no better time to watch Pocahontas.

The movie started and there were times I had to ask them not to talk during the ‘boring parts’ – and then there were times they went absolute silent – during the romantic parts (that’s how I know they are growing up!!).

Every-time I asked them about the voice of the character, to explain the if the dialogue or art was racist or anti- racist- they were correct.

While I was watching it, I heard my close friend’s voice, if you are going to teach them about Pocahontas make sure to tell them the truth. He told me that last year when they were in the fourth grade reading Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson. That time, we got as far as analyzing the painting that hangs in the nation capitol entitled- Pocahontas Baptism. This year though, our curriculum gave us room to talk more about the Native American. None of them saw the Disney movie and were naturally happy to see it.

The movie ended and there was a common feeling in the room. No one was surprised about the love story or Pocahontas ending up with the White man and few of them questioned it.

Then, I played a video I found on the internet. It talked about the real meaning of Pocahontas and how it connects to Native people. It gave Pocahontas a different name and shared different images. Unlike my student’s jolly behavior during the movie, they were alert and inquisitive. They took notes and asked questions like- Ms. Hurley, is it okay to say sexually assaulted? What does molested mean? Why did Disney lie? What does genocide mean? What is a homicide? Then they answered their own questions: But Disney is for children and if they told the truth then it wouldn’t be a children’s movie anymore! If suicide means to kill yourself, then homicide means to kill other people.

The children had art next but none of them moved when the bell rang. They had more questions about the supreme court and how people were being charged. I asked them to write their feelings down then we spoke about them. We spoke about protecting ourselves and protecting others. The boys had an opportunity to talk about how they felt about girls getting hurt and the girls spoke about how to respect boys, understanding that anyone can hurt anyone.

The students who were known for being quiet were the most vocal when sharing stories they saw on the internet. Students who were known for bravery spoke about Pocahontas losing her agency and how scary that was for them. The lesson lasted until 10 minutes before lunch as oppose to a hour before lunch. I realized that while they were asking me questions, they were mostly interested in what each other thought and how each other felt in that moment. Realizing this made me talk less as the space was there for them to grow and give each other agency.

Learning about Mandalas

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art invited my class to go on a journey with them at the beginning of the school year. They were among a few other students in New York City given the privilege of visiting an exhibit that has since been taken down, entitled: Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet. While they viewed the art, they were given headphones that were attached to a computer. A trained music technician was able to see their brainwaves and connect their “mindfulness” to the affects art was having on the brain.

Mandalas: Mapping Buddhist Art of Tibet, was a strange opportunity. Strange because I had never studied Tibetan art. I knew little to nothing about mandalas. The whole walk down into the art show felt as if I was in a time machine walking slowly into the 70’s. There was color and movement all around me and every adult there was promoting peace and mindfulness.

It was also an unique experience because it gave my students time to engage in social emotional learning (they played a lot of mind games with the museum educator, Drew), time to make art and music (while viewing the art, they wore huge headphones which in turn picked up their brainwaves and those brainwaves made music), and time to talk of science and technology (looking at their brainwaves, they knew when they were calm).

The exploration of the artwork featured in the exhibition exposed me to what some might say is- mindfulness. I always associated mindfulness with my body being still but it’s your mind being still while participating in activities around you.

The artwork featured in the exhibition, the classroom visits from Drew as well as being able to listen to their brainwaves, exposed my students to self-awareness and self-management. I was able to use what I learned with them as a creativity tool and a way to approach self-awareness.

A little after my students ended their partnership with the Met. I went to a Steven Banks concert for my birthday and in the rotunda there was a beautiful mandala. The vibrant mandala was created by students and teachers alike with pictures and tiny square papers attached on the outside. This lead me to research group mandalas which I came across plenty. I took photos and told my students about my weekend. As I guessed they were not interested in my stories about the Kenari Quartet. They stared at the picture of mandala and tried to name all the objects they found.

Before they could even ask, I answered the question that was in their head: yes, we will create our own group mandala.

Research gave me insight on how to incorporate mandalas into my lessons. During homeroom, they created fun and simple mandalas before they started their day. Some were about kindness towards earth while others were about kindness towards themselves.

They also created group mandalas during Social Studies as a history project. They each picked their own topic and wrote a paragraph about why it should be included in a class project. Next, they focused on their historical event and drew it. Afterwards, they created artist statements.

Currently, I am including the brainwave experiment into their lessons for April. Understanding how the brain works is important for children as well as adults. If a child understands his/her brain then he/she can understand how learning happens. Understanding leads to better moments in the schooling process.

A special thank you to my Met family: David, Drew, Kirsten, Lauren, and Jason for your support and patience with my kiddos.

Below are the mandalas they created….along with the numbers of pi which are throughout the hallways in my school!