Teaching in "The Burgh"

My name is Patrick Lahey.  I have never blogged before and was at somewhat of a loss for what I should write about.  I figured I would write about myself and my experiences.  For my first blog I am going to give a little background on teaching in Newburgh, New York.

I am currently teaching Technology in South Middle School in Newburgh.  This past May I was asked to step in to a leave replacement for a teacher who had a health emergency.  Teaching technology was a new endeavor that I was more than willing to undertake.  This truly was a bit of a shock for me because I had gone to school for physical education.

Teaching in Newburgh has many advantages and disadvantages alike.  I am happy to say that the community between the faculty and staff is very strong and everybody works well with one another.  Many of the students are products of a very difficult environment in which they have grown to know all too well.  Newburgh has been ranked in the toughest cities in America numerous times over the years.  Despite this fact there are countless students that are hungry to learn and are willing to put forth the efforts to get the best possible grades.  On the other hand however, there are many students who are not motivated to be in school and it is obvious that some of these students come to school merely so that they can eat and have a warm environment.  There is also a large population of students who are admittedly associated with gangs.  Despite all of these facts students still come to school daily in order to better their knowledge and grow.

Before I started working in Newburgh I was very familiar with the surrounding area and knew of many of the problems that existed throughout the city.  I understood that there were many good kids that went through the school as well as a very difficult population of inner-city students.  I was aware of what to expect but it was absolutely impossible to foresee all of the difficult situations that would arise.  This naivety is something that I would imagine every young teacher experiences when they begin teaching.  Being in the heart of a beast such as Newburgh was something that would educate me quickly.