Personal Narrative: Maple Street Magnet School

(Intro) At the school I participate at, Maple Street, I work in the RAWK Writers Room. So far, I have only been there one time. Although, I may have only been there one time, I have already begun restructure my thoughts as a future teacher. My in-school work is at Maple Street Magnet School for the Arts in Kalamazoo. The school is located inside the city limits (Boundary Map of Kalamazoo, Michigan). However, because the school is a Magnet school, it is likely that it also pulls in kids from other areas. Because of this, the demographics of this school includes numbers and statistics from both the city of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo county. (Diversity) The city of Kalamazoo has 76,041 citizens, which is 29.2% of the population in the entire county …show more content…
The sign I saw from the road never told me where to go to get to the main entrance but instead just a direction. I did a lap around the school and finally found where I was supposed to go. I drove out of the side parking lot and went to the lot in the front of the school. The lot was full. I drove through it and ended up parking on the side of the road, right across from the front of the school. When I got to the door, there was a sign on each door pointing at the call box and telling me to use it. I pushed the button and a man asked me who I was and what I was there for. I looked into the camera and told him. He opened the door and right away I saw the security desk on my left side. I went up to the desk, where two security guards were sitting, I signed in on the sign in sheet. There were three long hallways, but they pointed me in the right direction. The halls were lined with lockers with locks on them. The hallway was bright and full of color. The lockers were a bright red, there were art projects both big and small all along the hallway. I walked on the right side of the hallway to abide by the traffic line they had. I made my a turn down the next hallway, and looked up. The school had turned old ceiling tiles into an opportunity for art. Many of the tiles had drawings and paintings on them which added to the already artful and colorful hallways. I got to the correct classroom, and turned the knob. Although I was …show more content…
Security was not something I experienced at my school. A lack of security may have been either that my school was in a relatively safe spot, or that extremely school confrontations were rare. That being said, I think it is something I will need to get used to for whatever school I end up at. Right after the security, though, the school was a wonderful and inviting place. Full of color, art, and creativity, it was clear that this school loved their kids. I felt very comfortable in the school. This is important to me for one major reason. I loved the schools I went to; I always felt welcomed and safe. Up until now, I had a hard time imagining that I could find that in any other school but my own. However, by talking that walk down the hallway, and seeing the happiness on Mary’s face, I began to realize that there are many schools that offer those feelings. That led me to two questions. Should I chase that feeling of safety and invitation and try and work for a school that offers those feelings? Or should I be looking for a school that does not offer those feelings and work for that school to try and bring those feelings of safety and invitation to the students at that school? Whatever my conclusion I come to, I am thankful for Maple Street, its surrounding community, and Mary for alerting me that there is more than what I have experienced. These three have completely reopened my mind to the idea of where I want to teach and, most