“You look surprised, Mr. Norton.”
I slam my mouth shut. “Call me Joel.” I glance at Dana and she’s sitting up in her seat, although her eyes remain downcast, uncomfortable with the praise.
A new kind of guilt pangs in my chest. Not only did I miss that Dana is behind in core subjects, but I also missed that she’s found something she excels at. I haven’t been paying attention.
“I didn’t realize,” I say.
Brooke gives me a sympathetic look. “Let me guess. Your teenager isn’t forthcoming with what’s happening at school?” She’s got a half smile on her face, and I realize she’s throwing me a lifeline. “The last student I had in here, the parents didn’t even realize he was doing Media Studies.”
I glance at Dana, and she’s looking at me eagerly, with her hands between her knees as they bounce up and down. “Can I show you my latest project?”
For a moment she’s a little girl again, eager to show me the craft projects she did while I was deployed.
I hide my surprise. It’s been a long time since Dana wanted to share anything with me. “I’d like that.”
I follow her to one of the monitors, and she flicks it on and navigates through a program I don’t recognize.
“It’s an editing program,” she explains.
Dana hits play, and I listen as a recording comes up. It’s a scratchy male voice I don’t recognize speaking about growing tomatoes. The image is of the school janitor sweeping an empty corridor.
“You made this?”
“Shhh Dad, just watch.”
For the next three minutes, I watch and listen to her interview the school janitor. The shots are of him around the school picking up trash, vacuuming an empty classroom, having a quiet moment sipping from a coffee flask as he overlooks the athletic fields. The interview is him talking about his prized tomato garden and remembering the place where he grew up. It’s personal, it’s touching, it’s human.
I’ve walked past the janitor on the school grounds and never knew his name. Dana does; Hector. She saw him when no one did.
The video ends, and I turn to Dana. She bites her lip nervously. “What did you think?”
“It’s brilliant.” My praise is genuine, and her grin widens.
“I shot it on my phone and used an app to record the audio.”
“The assignment was to interview someone at the school.” Brooke leans on the desk, and I catch a whiff of her scent again. “Most students chose a teacher, but none of them got the emotional depth, the human touch that Dana did.”
My chest swells with pride, and I grin at my little girl, not so little anymore. “It’s really good, Dana.”
My glance goes to Brooke. This woman isn’t your average teacher. She understands my daughter in a way I haven’t managed to. And Dana is different in this class too. She’s engaged and eager, which confirms my thoughts about her slipping grades. It’s not a lack of aptitude. Dana is bored.
2
BROOKE
The glow from the monitor casts a soft blue light over Dana’s face as she speaks about the video she’s just shown her dad.
Her arms gesticulate and there’s an un-self-conscious way about how she talks. Her father watches her, his face not as masked as he thinks. I can tell he’s surprised, but he’s not showing it to his daughter. I respect him for that.
I’ve heard about how Dana is in her other classes. Other teachers have written her off as a moody teenage girl who isn’t trying. Her attitude doesn’t help her case. But in this class, I like her straightforward attitude. It helps her get to the truth. There’s an emotional maturity in her work that I don’t see from the other students.
She hasn’t spoken about her home life, but I saw the background files for each of my students. Dana lost her mother when she was thirteen, the time in a girl’s life when she needs her mother the most. It’s got to be where a large part of her attitude comes from and also what gives her the ability to connect with people when she wants to.
I bet most of the kids in the school don’t even know the janitor’s name, but they will now, thanks to Dana.
“I’d like to play the video at the next school assembly, if we can get Hector’s permission.”
Dana looks pleased. “I already put it on the release form he signed. But I’ll check tomorrow that he’s still comfortable with it.”
