A Chance for Alison
February 13th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Alison* is 17 years old. She is a pretty young lady with sad eyes and shy smile. She did not finish her grade school. She came to us to review for the Placement Test that will allow her to enroll in high school if she passed the exam.
To establish rapport, we normally talk to our students in a personal level. We eventually learned that Alison is the youngest child of her mother, she has four more siblings, each of different father. She grew up with her mother, and like nomads they move from place to place, never staying in one place for a long period of time. Consequently, Alison did not go to school as they don’t stay in one place long enough to finish one school year. Much as I like to ask why they do that, I knew it was too personal.
Only last October, one of Alison’s long lost brother found her. Very happy to have learned about his long lost sister, he took Alison from her mother and let the girl stay with his family. He wanted to send her to school and so he inquired from the Department of Education about what to do. He asked us to please help her sister. He explained how Alison’s life had been, and the difficulties she had gone through and that he wanted so much to make a difference in her sister’s life. We can feel how sorry he was for his sister and we want to help him.
But Alison needs more than we can give. She has difficulty in processing information. Her level of comprehension is very low, her vocabulary very limited, her basic Math skills almost non-existent as she can’t even do skip counting by 2 (2, 4, 6…), she had a hard time memorizing scientific terms and even though we knew she was doing her best, we think she’s not ready.
She is a sweet girl and we can feel that she appreciates our kindness and patience. Her exam took place last Friday, though we knew she wouldn’t make it, we still hope for the best and I wish her a chance for a life better than she had..
*not real name
Posted in teacher's journal
It’s sad that people like Alison have such a difficult time with some of the most basic skills that people need to get a decent job
I hope next time there is a chance for Alison. She deserves a good life after all the hardships she had to go through.
Alison is a victim of the indiscretions of her parents. It’s a modern day tragedy that affects the lives of children. Let us just hope that she can live her life fully. Thanks for the post. God bless you all always.
I feel sad for Alison. I believe every one has talent. Does she have a special talent? If she have troubles in formally school; I hope she can explore and develop her talent…
oww… It sad to know the situation of Alison and I hope little by little she’ll learn and adapt the most important wonderful things in life. She may not be knowledgeable enough but she may have hidden talents that I hope she can find.
awww..a sad true story.
It’s hard for her to adjust since she haven’t even taught at home. 
I know there are good teachers like you who wish the best for their students, and I hope there’s a way to help Allison have a better life. By the way, what’s wrong with your EC? When I Dropped, this prompt appears: “No such user.”
i feel for Alison and for you too ms. kim! i am a teacher too, i used to teach special children in a public school, and it really breaks my heart to know that some parents are just so irresponsible to allow such things to happen to their children. the children suffer because of their parent’s wrong doings! a sad reality. yeah, same with ms. tetcha, when i drop you EC, it says no such user… thanks by the way for the visit!
i also visit your sister’s blogs… i have her on my links too. anyways, hope you can drop by my other blogs too, they’re just fairly new…
http://www.mommypinks.com
http://hnhlabz.com