Patch Blog: Changing Los Angeles--Luther Burbank Middle School

I met a young science teacher last week on a tour of .

Mr. Lee is young. The principal Mr. Valdez told me he was the only teacher hired in the , who had no previous teaching experience. His explanation was that Mr. Lee had enthusiasm, and a passion for teaching children of this age. Mr. Lee stood beaming while his principal was explaining this. He pulled out a white large bucket, and pried off the lid to show us the frogs the class was going to dissect. He showed us the little pallets on which this was going to take place.

I looked around at the empty classroom and asked him what he needed. I could not see equipment I associate with a science classroom. He squinted at me uncomprehending. I repeated myself, and suggested maybe a microscope? Now he understood. “You know what we really need?  We need tables.” It was my turn not to understand. Tables? Yes, earnest and excited, he gestured at the little chairs with little built-in arm desks. The students can’t really work on a project at these little desks. If he had tables, they could lay their work out.

I had asked for his fondest wish, as though I were the genie of the lamp. I was expecting something grand, a telescope, electrical testing equipment, thirty Bunsen burners. With fire in his eyes, he asked for tables.

Burbank has made extraordinary improvement in less than two years. Principal Valdez and Assistant Principal Moore are fiercely committed to seeing this failing school continue to get better. You should see this place. No really, ask for a tour sometime and be prepared to see an astonishing change. Valdez and Moore have their hands full dealing with the daily juggling act keeping the school on the path. Finding a few tables cannot be what they need to spend time on. I can hear you thinking. Why can’t LAUSD simply supply this classroom with 8 tables from what I am confident is their vast cache of equipment and furniture? Getting furniture out of the LAUSD Kafka maze makes my head hurt.

So tell me Highland Park, is there anyone out there with a simple sturdy folding table you would be willing to give to an excited young teacher in your local Middle School.

Let me know here at the Patch, and let’s help Mr. Lee have his wish come true.