Uplift

We took the summer off and did not volunteer an hour at LCW.

So last Saturday when I drove to the St. Ambrose campus of LCW, where our students will finally be all together, the transformation of the site took my breath away.

You have got to understand. This site has been the incubation tank for every charter school on this side of town. Larchmont started there, then Los Feliz Arts Charter, then back to Larchmont, then us and Larchmont, then Larchmont, and now all us.

The site has been painted and repainted by ambitious parents and hopeful educators. I really did not think it could be improved.

But it has.

This is the mural outside--just a tiny portion of it--coordinated by Joey, father of Presley--a realtor and muralist (so L.A.!).
The wall is covered with colored stencils from one end to the other. There are birds, Tahitian masks, elephants, yoga poses (that was me!) fish, and frogs balancing on reeds. Around the corner a blue butterfly soars to the heavens.

The mural is so simple and so elegant. Even better is knowing that dozens of parents (and children!) worked on it.

The economy is crashing, and our nation is fucked, but my school makes me inordinately happy.

I feel so blessed, so extraordinarily blessed, to be part of this tiny community, an incubator of hope.