ABSTRACT
My career as a credentialed social studies and language arts teacher began at Middle College High School at South Seattle Community College. Housed on the community college campus, Middle College was a small, alternative Seattle public high school for former dropouts, ages 16–21—“former” because these students had dropped out (or, more correctly, had been pushed out) of the regular high schools but realized that they wanted another chance at graduating and getting their diploma. This was the job I wanted, and I loved teaching there. My students hailed from the vastly diverse, working class families of South Seattle and the overwhelming majority were always on the brink of crisis: the brink of being in a gang, or dealing drugs, or some street life related hustle; the brink of homelessness or unemployment; the brink of drug and alcohol abuse; the brink of depression or suicide; the brink of going to jail; the brink of serious health issues. And sometimes we lost students to these crises, over the brink, never to return.
