天使在人間

她是一個普通的弱女子，一所普通小學——惠特尼小學的校長。如果你站在學校的墻外遠遠地望著她，你肯定覺得此人并無任何特別之處；但如果你踏進了那所學校，你將看到那副瘦弱的肩膀正擔負著無數孩子的夢想。

一所被無人管教的貧困生塞滿的學校，一位勢單力薄的女校長，她將如何帶領孩子們度過難關？讓我們拭目以待……

I’m Sherrie Gahn and I’m the principal of Whitney Elementary School. Whitney is very unique because we service very high needs population.

We had a lot of homeless children here， more than 85﹪ of our students are free and reduced lunch and a lot of those 85﹪ are homeless. When they leave here on the daily basis， sometimes we don’t know where they are going. Their environment changes everyday： somedays they may live in their 1）apartment； somedays they live in a hotel motel； somedays they may be in the streets. We don’t know where they’re gonna go.

When I first came to Whitney and I was in the lunch room and walking around helping the kids， and they kept pocketing their 2）ketchup， putting them in their pocket. When I asked my staff what were they doing， they told me that they do that often because they needed to. It was their…it’s gonna be their dinner， it’s ketchup soup. They’re gonna go home and make ketchup soup with it， because they had no food.

My goal was if I can take that off their play. If I can make them come to school and feel safe and warm and they have clothes， and just like any other child. And they are under same level playing field as any other child in school. Then they can learn. I guess it’s sort of like that fairy tale that， you know， you go to school， you get new 3）backpack， you get new clothes， Christmas you get presents and birthday you get a present and a cake， and these kids don’t get that. It’s huge...it’s huge 4）self-esteem， it’s who you are. So I decided to do it， I decided to get them those things.

I made a deal with the…the families. I ask them that if you give me your child， I will give you whatever you need， your…like I’ll pay your electrical bill， your utilities， I’ll give you food or clothes whatever you need as long as you give me your child. And then help raise that child as a person of character.

It’s started out with me actually going to every person I knew， and calling them up and saying “Hey， I have this school and I need help，” that’s how I started the donations. Almost everyone who donates to Whitney is an individual or a small business. We take everything. We take everything because when you’re in poverty， you need everything.

My biggest motivator are the kids， and that thought and the whole that they don’t have to live in this existence when they grow up， that they break the cycle. That’s my biggest motivator， and their hugs when hug me.

When I was four years old， I told my mother that I was gonna be a teacher， and I have teachers who changed my life， and I didn’t even want to be a principal， and then I walked in Whitney and I thought this is my purpose， this is what I meant to do. This does not define who they are， they can be better. And if I can give them that and teach them that and show them that， then…then I’ve done my job.

我叫雪莉·佳恩，我是惠特尼小學的校長。惠特尼小學非常特別，因為我們為極其需要幫助的人們服務。

我們學校有很多無家可歸的孩子，85%以上的學生都享用免費或低價午餐，而且在這85%當中的許多孩子還無家可歸。每天當他們學完功課離開學校后，有時候我們也不知道他們會去哪里。他們的生活環境每天都在變：有時候他們可能住在租賃的公寓；有時候住在汽車旅館；有時候他們可能流落街頭。我們不知道他們能去哪兒。

我初到惠特尼時，我會在午餐室忙著幫忙照顧孩子們，而我看到孩子們一直在收集番茄醬，把自己那份裝進口袋。當我問起我的員工孩子們在干嘛的時候，他們告訴我孩子們經常那么做是因為他們需要那么做。那些番茄醬將是他們的晚餐，煮番茄湯用的。他們要用那些番茄醬回家煮湯，因為家里已經沒有食物了。

我的目的就是看能否讓他們結束那樣的生活。如果可以，我希望他們都能上學，感到安全和溫暖，并且有衣服穿，就像其他孩子一樣。讓他們與其他讀書的孩子一樣享有同樣的機會。