Tell us a Story!

How It All Started When my daughter Nicole was entering the sixth grade, my concern was picking the right school for her. As we visited numerous schools in the area, some schools turned us down because we were not in their school zone while others had waiting lists. After many days of searching, we walked into a school where there was a parent arguing with the school’s secretary in the registrar’s offi ce. Instead of standing there and listening, Nicole and I walked around the school, checking out the classrooms and the playground. We came across an indoor patio and sat down on a bench rest. There were pigeons roosting in the corners of the roof, making their cooing sound. As I looked up at the ceiling, memories of my childhood began to fl ash in and out my mind faster than I could sort them out. My father, Nicole’s grandfather, had help build this indoor patio, which I used to call the Atrium. As I began telling her about the Atrium, my mind began downloading childhood memories that took place under this indoor patio. I remembered walking through it on my way to the church during my fi rst Holy Communion at the age of seven, wearing a beautiful white dress that my mom had made for me. But our sitting under the atrium was not about me, it was about using this moment to introduce my father to my daughter. My father died when I was nineteen. Nicole only knew him through stories and pictures. But now we were sitting underneath something her grandfather had actually made with his own hands. So I began telling her about her grandfather and how I used to play in the piles of sand while he hammered away on a ladder building this indoor patio. As time ticked away, the man continued to argue with the secretary. As we passed by to leave, a lady in the back waved us in and escorted us to an offi ce. I didn’t know who she was at the time, except that she had a spiritual aura about her. We talked for a while, and she asked me many questions. Then I shared some stories with her about the Atrium. As she listened, she identifi ed something in me that I didn’t know I had : an inner passion for teaching. My entire life as I knew it had changed in that interview; the school’s principal had just offered me a teaching position. By the time September came around, I was teaching with a temporary certifi cate. You may call it a coincidence, but I call it a God-incidence. Since then, I have shared many stories with my students. I fi nd that storytelling is a method of teaching that helps them connect science concepts to the real world. It is because of them that I am writing this book. So in appreciation to them for inspiring me to do this, I dedicate this book to the students of Miami Springs Middle School.