Photo Opp

When I was a full-time Islamic school teacher, among the challenges we faced one of them came from our own community. The phenomenon of sharing space with the week-end school staff and students. We were told to lock up all our supplies and valuables every Friday and be as open-minded as possible. Naturally, we expected some furniture to have been moved, the odd box of crayons to go missing and so forth. But one year, it seemed like things were really going awry. Every Monday morning brought some kind of "School Supply Tragedy".



One of my third graders came crying to me saying her desk had been written on in permanent marker. Chairs were being destroyed, textbooks defaced or missing. Naturally, it was hard to really prove anything or blame any particular student. The full time principal, Sister Jameela, was turning a blind eye to all this activity. One Friday I had left a disposable camera in my desk drawer. (Try to imagine a time before digital cameras) It still had over 20 exposures left. It was my mistake, I should have locked it away.

When I returned on Monday I happened to need the camera to photograph a science project. I clicked the button and realized that the whole camera had been used up. Who could have done it! My own students were really too young to be so daring.....but how silly! Why had the miscreant not simply stolen the camera?!

So, as you can imagine, I marched over to the Osco Drug One Hour Photo with great enthusiasm. The photos were developed and I now had in my hands picture after picture of Junior High age children from the week-end school "caught in the act" of messing around, sitting at the holy of holies (my desk ) and even a shot of a teacher in a black jilbab running towards a student waving her fist. So, naturally I turned these photos in to the Full-time School principal that Monday.

When Sister Jameela saw the pictures, she was taken aback.

I smiled knowing that justice would soon be served.

"This teacher is my brother's wife and is a member of the Masjid Board!!" she returned rather embarassed.

Nepotism and Favoritism.

No action was taken.
But I did not blame her. Hey, family comes before everything.

But this meant there was only one thing for it. It was time to form the Brown Panther Movement.

I just had to have my day in the sun. I had a rather macabre wish to confront the Sunday School students themselves. I decided to go to the school while it was in session like some kind of vigilante teacher. I was granted permission from the rather perplexed Sunday School principal to enter the classroom. The students- all around 14-15 years old, were sitting in rows, yawning, throwing paper airplanes- the usual hive of activity. When I entered, they all sat up straight and began to pay attention. They had no idea who I was but wisely did not want to take any chances. As I glanced around the room I recognized some faces from the photos.

I whispered my plan to the teacher who was happy to let me carry it out. She too was tired of the lack of discipline.

So I politely addressed the students, telling them who I was and if they knew of any mis-behavior, destruction or dis-respect of teachers or school property. They shook their heads as one, flatly denied knowledge of any such activity.

Having watched perhaps one too many episodes of Columbo in my youth, I removed the packet of photos from my handbag and began posting them one by one on the chalkboard methodically, securing them with magnets.

A collective gasp of horror went around the room as the students recognized themselves basically doing all the things they had just denied.


I realize now I was rather over-zealous and self indulgent but boy did I have a good time playing detective for the day!


The next day I received a plethora of of sincerely penitent essays from the weekend school students and promises to behave etc. I look back now and think that they were all good kids, probably just bored and inadequately supervised. Fortunately, there have been some positive moves to make Week-end schools an all-round more meaningul and enjoyable experience.
It is also a testimony to how burnt out and eccentric I had become as an individual and a sign for me to take a break from the profession!