Description

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Through vignettes, essays, snapshots, portraits, and poems, Music in the Halls reveals the inner workings of a high-poverty District of Columbia Public School. In it, Jankowski brings to light the visceral and emotional nature of childhood poverty and trauma and how it not only impacts a student’ s ability to learn but also how it restricts their ability to live a full life. Uncovering the interwoven worlds of children and their parents, teachers and administrators, and the DCPS bureaucracy— all residing in close proximity to the nation’ s capital— Music in the Halls is not simply a tale of hard knocks; it is an exploration of how one man’ s understanding and compassion can be transformed and expanded to encompass and embrace this world.

About the Author

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Bernard Jankowski is Head of the English Department and an AP Teacher at an educational facility serving adolescents with severe emotional disabilities. Previously, he was a Teacher and Special Education Coordinator at a high-poverty elementary school. Prior to teaching, he led a groundbreaking foundation research service. He has published two full-length poetry collections and is recipient of the Evelyn Elder Award for American Literature from Montgomery College.