Year 9: Week 33 – Her Crew

She was late.

I had already started working with the 6th graders, and one of the 8th graders. Our time was short and I wanted to make sure that the students felt comfortable on stage. Our middle school bands were joining together to perform “Glory,” from the film Selma. As part of this performance I let students audition to be featured to perform Common’s first rap verse from the song. The group ended up being a mix of 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

Everyone I was expected to be there had shown up except for one of the 8th graders so we got to work. This was during their lunch break and the other students had hustled to get there so I didn’t want to waste their time waiting for the last 8th grader.

As I was standing in the audience giving directions I heard the door open behind me. I looked back and to my dismay, the last 8th grader was there along with a group of six other students. My immediate thought was to ask the other girls to leave. I didn’t have time for distractions, this wasn’t an open rehearsal, and I was worried that the students on stage would be distracted with these other students in the audience.

The 8th grader explained that they were her “crew,” and they were there to hype everyone up.

Then I had one of those teacher moment. It only last a couple second in reality but feels like a couple minutes in your head.  In this time, you speed through possibilities and scenarios almost like viewing alternate timelines trying to figure out the best way to “choose your own adventure.”

It came down to the fact that I needed to show this 8th grade girl trust and give her crew a chance. I figured that the worst case scenario is that I kick them out.

The crew settled down in the center of the auditorium, and they were awesome. After every repetition, they cheered and encouraged the people on stage. They gave as much love to the 6th graders as they did the 8th graders. When I broke lines down and worked the rappers, the crew was quiet.  Then they erupted in cheers when the rappers on stage put together what they had fixed.

We had a pretty good vibe before but the crew made the vibe incredible. The students on stage got a chance to work in front of a friendly audience and get used to the feeling of having people watch them as they performed.

It is worth noting that the 8th grader is a student of color and her crew were also students of color. It’s wonderful that their support of each other has been nurtured in my school and that they extended this to the 6th graders in this space.  This was a wonderful highlight of my week and was an important reminder of how great 8th graders can be with each other and for others.