Word: malcolm
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...Malcolm X thrives on ideas, stubbornness and high expectations. Its teachers and staff are realistic about the lives students live during the 16-plus hours a day they are not under the school's protection and are aware of the lessons that must be unlearned. "They're not kids, they're really not," says Chester Earl Jordan, father of a five-year-old Malcolm X student. Jordan, along with others, patrols the neighborhood at night, a flashlight in one hand, and -- until recently -- a gun in the other. "If you sat down a third-grader and asked...
...Malcolm X's 30 teachers are black. The classrooms feature pictures of famous African-American artists, scientists and writers, and there is a clear, though unspoken, sense of pride that it is blacks helping blacks reclaim this troubled community. But there are many teachers who knew little of the inner city before arriving here. "It was a culture shock even for me," says second-grade teacher Avis Watts, who was raised in the Virginia countryside, and whose parents taught college. Now she appreciates just how critical the school is to the children. "This is their lifeline really," she says. "They...
...scream of sirens from Alabama Avenue. The rosebushes planted outside were hacked to bits by vandals; but inside, preschoolers nurse acorns in paper cups and watch for signs of growth. This is a neighborhood where a child could get stabbed over a pair of sneakers; but the students of Malcolm X Elementary dress in uniform, the boys in white shirts and red ties, the girls in plaid jumpers. "If we don't hold high expectations for these children," asks principal John Pannell, the son of a West Virginia school-bus driver, "then who will...
...Many at Malcolm X express a sense of desperation in trying to rescue the children. Frank Edge is a formidable 215-lb. former professional wrestler who works as a school security guard. Children follow him around the playground and through the halls, where he doles out lollipops and hugs in equal measure. But for Edge, this is no casual job. Before coming to Malcolm X two years ago, he was assigned to a nearby junior high. When students from the school were killed, it was his duty to walk the grieving mother or father to their child's locker...
...understands the stakes at Malcolm X better than Earl C. At night he works as a federal undercover narcotics agent. By day he volunteers his time providing security and a reassuring presence at the school. Earl, a former Golden Gloves boxing champion, is rough-edged and straight talking. A father of six, he can also be a gentle man, and is often seen crossing the playground or walking the halls, a knot of adoring children at his side...