Even a Riot Couldn't Stop Us!

This story marks the beginning of a series I’m calling

 “On Becoming a Teacher”

(A monthly series for the length of my final school year)

I was in my 2nd year of teaching when the L.A. Riots occurred. I was teaching a Learning Disabled class at Lindbergh Middle School in Long Beach Unified School District; although this was the class title, there was nothing disabling about what our class learned that year - for what the world threw at us that year, we could do nothing but consume.

I’ve taught 34 years and although there were times that moved rather slowly, for the most part, my career has fleeted by. Part of it, you must understand, is credited to loving the path I’m on. It took me until the end of my 29th birthday to surrender to this realization, but once the contract was signed, I knew I had found what I was looking for.

In 1992, the racial political climate surrounding Los Angeles County was tumultuous and scary. My students lived in this world, but in the classroom, we were able to create a different paradigm, one that held no boundaries. So, in the fall of 1991, we set out to create that year’s project and put together a plan. It was exciting. We were able to get administrative approval, parent approval but more importantly, we were able to get “buy in” by our students’ for it was ultimately THEIR job to make it come true.

What was this project?

To visit the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles.

Ok. so many of you reading may be thinking: “What?” “How is this a big deal?” 

Well, you see, my students (the majority of them) had never been outside of their home surroundings. Over 75% of them had never seen the Pacific Ocean before. The Ocean! The ocean was 8 miles away - 12 min car drive - a 52 min bus ride. When I asked for a vote on destinations, I thought for sure that the ocean would be a contender, but the Natural History Museum won.

So, secretly, I planned for both.

Just two years prior to our vote, Lindbergh Middle School erected a wall.

This wall was designed NOT to keep people out, but rather to keep them safe. Adjacent to the track and field portion of the school housed a 713-unit called the Carmelitos Housing Project; this is also where many of my students lived. But in 1989, in an extraordinary attempt to protect teachers and students from flying bullets, Long Beach school administrators erected a 10-foot-high concrete wall alongside Lindbergh M.S. where recreation is periodically interrupted by the sound of gunfire.

“It’s really sad that something like this has to be done,” Lindbergh Jr. High School Principal Max Fraley said. 

“But it’s needed in today’s society.”

-Los Angeles Times Reporter ROXANA KOPETMAN

So, you see, opportunities to board a 52-min bus ride to see the ocean may not have been available (nor desired) in my student’s lives.

I had my work cut out for me

We needed money to get to the L.A. Natural History Museum. How were we going to do this?

We started businesses:

• We recycled cardboard. (California State University’s recycling program had a zero waste campus goal and paid us to recycle cardboard) We collected cardboard each day and stored it in a large closet in our classroom.

• We started a lunch program. (Frankly, I can’t believe we were allowed to do this, but somehow we did!) We took speciality orders from staff and created lasagna lunches with fresh salads. We got a food handlers certificate and cooked in the Home Ec rooms. We charged $2.50 per lunch and cooked from September-May twice a week.

• We hosted a Thanksgiving Lunch. For $5.00 per meal, our students prepared and served the administrative staff a Thanksgiving meal. (complete with turkey and all the fixin’s)

Slowly but surely, we were able to raise enough money to transport and purchase tickets to the museum for my classroom, volunteer parents and myself. We were set on taking the (then) newly opened Blue Line (now renamed A-Line) from our school to the museum located on 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles CA We were very excited! 

My friend, Sue Lafferty, worked for the museum and she had helped me make arrangements for my students. May 2nd was the day we had planned for.

Don’t worry, I had not forgotten about the Ocean.

On March 15, 1992 I took my students on a bus ride from their school to participate in the Long Beach AIDS Walk which just happened to designate its route ALL ALONG the COASTLINE!

3.1 miles

5 Kilometers

“Ms. Putney (I had not changed my name yet), how long is this going to take?”

“Ohhhh, Ms. Putney, are we walking the whole time?”

(You better believe I heard complaints!  BUT… )

“Ms. Putney, is this the ocean?”

“Ms. Putney, it’s so big!”

(I heard this too)

Countdown to the museum continued. School work, IEP meetings, planning for High School … work  progressed until our departure date of May 2nd, 1992. Emotions were light and we were excited. We had an adventure awaiting us.

We just didn’t know at the time that OUR adventure was going to take an unexpected turn.

For reasons too complicated for this blog (and one that I can honestly say, “We’re still working on …”) the L.A. riot released its mighty sword.

From April 29 – May 4, 1992, the riots would last 6 days. When the riots ended, 63 people had been killed, 2,383 had been injured, more than 12,000 had been arrested, and estimates of property damage were over $1 billion, making it the most destructive period of local unrest in U.S. history.

… and our museum trip got canceled.

Long Beach Unified School District canceled school.

Our city suddenly had a curfew.

People were being dragged off their bikes and thrown into store front paned windows.

Everyone was JUST THAT ANGRY

But we were too.

For the same and different reasons.

My students represented many cultures and faiths. Many of my student’s families were from different countries and came to America to escape such violence.

Perhaps we were more sad than angry.

Our routine had been paused and our world changed. (if not for a moment)

Yep, we were angry, but we were more sad.

“Had everything we had planned, prepared and prepped for been all for nothing?”

In the end, you see, we found the beginning …

I called my friend Sue and we came up with a second plan.

After getting everyone’s permission, we took the trip on the Blue Line two weeks later. (when all was deemed “safe to travel”)

In the end, we discovered that this lesson was much bigger than I could ever have hoped for. What I mean to say is this, I was disheartened to witness the initial violence against Rodney King which only exacerbated the inexcusable behavior of pardoning the 4 police officers followed by the riotous reaction of our community - BUT violence was NOT the lesson.  They already lived in an area filled with  this; what my students saw were small bits of a slowly recovering community. 

They traveled on the train with noses pressed up against the windows at the blocks and blocks of burnt out stores and homes. But they also saw shovels and brooms. They saw people coming together to slowly rebuild. All these people looked different from one another. All these people looked like my students.

In the end, we got our museum trip.

We got a lot more too.

My students are between the ages of 41-44 years old now.

I don’t know where they ended up or who they became.

But I do know that our eventful year filled with Strong Effort faced by Life’s Challenges would not be forgotten.

I know I haven’t.