Eric B. Is President
I came in the door, I said it before..I never let the mic magnetize me no more..But it's biting me, fighting me, inviting me to rhyme..I can't hold it back, I'm looking for the line..Taking off my coat,..clearing my throat..The rhyme will be kicking until I hit my last note..My mind remains refined,..all kind of ideas..Self-esteem makes it seem like a thought took years to build..But still say a..rhyme after the next one..Prepared, never scared, I'll just bless one..And you know that I'm the..soloist..So Eric B make 'em clap to this! I wasn’t going to type the entire verse, but I couldn’t stop. And since we’re all still wondering who the next president will be, I figured I might as well throw Eric B in there. And on that note that’s the last I’ll mention of the election.
Speaking of 4 years, for the past 4 years I’ve been voluntarily teaching K-4th graders about health, and gardening. Day 1 I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Now it’s second nature. I try to do 3 main things. 1.Show them that I care. 2.Listen to their questions, that are usually just long a$$ stories. 3.Make learning fun. Call it a talent, perhaps it’s a gift, or it just might be luck. Whatever it is I have a talent when it comes to elementary age children listening to every word I say. Maybe it’s because I speak to them like they’re adults. I don’t know the answer, but they absolutely love me.
Some say it’s my voice. I don’t have a loud voice, but when I speak all eyes are on me. And if the tiny voices start to overpower mine, I just sit or stand there arms folded and say “I’m not talking over ya’ll. So when you decide to stop I’ll continue.” The reality is that I can’t yell. If I even try to raise my voice it’ll crack and I’ll sound like a prepubescent boy. So rather than be embarrassed in front of a bunch of 8 year olds, I save myself the embarrassment.
So how do I make gardening interesting to urban children? Easy I relate it to foods they love. “Hey kids raise your hands if you love pickles!” All hands go up. “Hey kids raise your hands if you love cucumbers!” All hands go down. “Hey kids guess what?” All eyes get bigger. “A pickle is a cucumber” WHAT!!!!! “That’s right kids, and now let me explain to you how and why.” Sports and food are my go to examples. I used to use music, but there is a huge gap between what I listen to and what they listen to.
“Mr.Johnson! I want to be a basketball player when I grow up.” Thinking to myself:”I’ve seen you in PE class bro, that ain’t happening. Plus you’re like 2 feet tall.” But because you can’t say those things to fragile little minds, you make this more relatable. “Ok who’s your favorite player?” “KEVIN DURANT!”“First off little homie get a new favorite player. But Durant is 6’10. And you’re going to need some calcium to grow big and strong ok. So let’s talk about vegetables that will give you enough calcium, and how that will benefit you.” A hand goes up. “Yes sir how can I help you.” “Mr Johnson Durant is in this classroom, look over there.” Thinking to myself:WTF was in his lunch, the only thing over there is a trash ca…..Ahhhhh well played.” “So you’re saying Durant is trash?” “YEP”
Whenever I walk through the halls I hear the excitement because they know what’s coming next. I put my finger over my lips to silence them then I nod and they get ready. Why? Because they know everyone is getting a high five and a “good job” from me. Once a teacher exhaled and rolled her eyes at me. I high-fived her a$$ too just for being a hater! You never know what these kids are going through. So If I can give them 5 seconds of joy and let them know they’re great, Damn right I’m going to do it. If they see me in public they smile and wave. Parents look at me funny, until I explain that I volunteer and teach gardening. If one hugs me, then I get 20 hugs. Hell one little girl wasn’t even in one of my classes, and she ran up and hugged me. She also begged me to let her help with watering the flowers.
I walked into my 3rd grade class one day a little over 2 years ago. Their teacher said “OK is everybody ready.” They knew my rule of not to yell. So they all nodded. Then they forgot my rule and yelled at me “THANK YOU MR.JOHNSON” and they walked up and each handed me a “Thank You” card that they made themselves. Later that day when I was at home. I opened and read each one. “Thank you for teaching us where our food comes from.” “Thank you for planting flowers with us.” “Thank you for telling us not to be scared of bees.” “Thank you for bringing us food to eat that you grew.” I’ve got an envelope full of terrible drawings and “thank you’s” That I’ll never throw away.
“Hey who’s John Cena bookbag is that?”,a tiny voice whispers “mine.” “You like John Cena?”, the tiny voice gets a little louder “yes.” “How can you possibly like someone that “U can’t see!” Then we both wave our hands back and forth across our faces. So a few weeks later after I returned from WrestleMania I pulled the tiny voiced student aside as we were headed outside to harvest broccoli. “I went to WrestleMania”(his eyes got big) and “I recorded something for you”(his eyes got bigger). So I showed him Cena’s entrance to the match, and he went crazy. Yea I broke a rule because we weren’t supposed to have our phones out….”Whoops” But seeing the joy on his face made it all worthwhile, because I never saw him smile until I mentioned John Cena. Yea teaching them about gardening is cool, but showing them I care is a million times better. This story is D.O.P.E, and so are my kids!
(This story was written as “Paid In Full” by Eric B. and Rakim served as the background soundtrack. Released July 7th, 1987.)
