Chapter 2 (Pages 47-67)

 

"Because Abon and Lucille Bridges rarely discussed the events with their daughter and the melee outside WFPS was impossible to ignore, Henry soon realized she needed to teach Bridges more than simple numbers and letters. Henry, a white teacher from the North, faced the daunting and somewhat implausible task of explaining to Bridges, a black student from the South, the complex concepts of desegregation and racism in a way a Black 6 year-old child might understand."


This quote stuck out to me in particular as I found it to be so impactful and really set the tone for what Ruby was going through during this time. In order for Ruby to get to school everyday,  she had to face the angry and violent protestors located outside of WFPS day after day. Although Ruby faced this challenge and went to school every day, once she arrived to school she was faced with another challenge. Isolation. Ruby was isolated from her white classmates throughout the entire day, it wasn't until several weeks before they allowed the children to play with Ruby at recess. The thought of Ruby being so isolated from her peers in every aspect of her school day is truly sickening to hear. There was no sense of normalcy when it came to Ruby's education as it felt like everyone was rooting against her, except for her teacher Barbara Henry. 

Barbara Henry was a temporary teacher who took the position as she was willing to teach in a desegregated school. Because Ruby was her only student, the two of them became very close and formed a strong bond. Henry became a mentor for Ruby during this chaos and did a lot more for Ruby aside from teaching her academics. Henry knew that Ruby attending WFPS was effecting not only Ruby but her parents employment, mental health, and marriage. Knowing that Ruby' s parents were under this stress and did not tap to Ruby about what was happening, Henry took on this role as she knew she needed to create some sense of normalcy and clarification for Ruby.

As a future educator, I found Barbara Henry to be inspiring for her actions towards and for Ruby. Henry is a true educator who did what she could to ensure that not a single student would be excluded from an education. Henry's compassion, determination, and patience shown towards Ruby is admirable. I hope to one day be able to make enormous leaps, changes, and challenges for the betterment of my students, like Henry did for Ruby.









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