Melissa: “A gang is really more just a big group of friends.”

Melissa: “I was teaching my class at 10:55, and the principal came over the loudspeaker and announced that there would be an assembly in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. at 11:00. So, okay, I figured it would be bad if the only white teacher kept her class from this assembly, so we leave the classroom and head to the auditorium. Now, there are three third grade teachers: Ms. ___, who thinks there are four continents; me; and Ms. ___, who was leading the assembly. So she said ‘Can anyone tell us why we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.?’ And [one of Melissa's third-grade students] raised her hand, and went up to the front of the room and said ‘Because he led the Civil Rights Movement and fought for black rights.’”
Elise: “Awwww!”
Melissa: “And then Ms. ___ said, ‘No. The reason is because it is the third Monday of January.’”
Elise: “Are you SERIOUS?”
Melissa: “Completely. And then she said ‘I have a story about why it’s important to celebrate Martin Luther King. I read a scientific study recently–’”
Elise: “Oh NO.”
Melissa: “‘I read a scientific study recently, which said that black children use two percent of their brains, and Chinese children use six.’”
Elise: “Good lord.”
Melissa: “So she’s already comparing a racial group to a country. And then she says, ‘Do you know what that means? That means you have to use THREE TIMES AS MUCH of your brain.’”
Elise: “What does that even MEAN??”
Melissa: “And then we finished by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Martin Luther King, so now all my students think he’s still alive.”