Steven is a new student at KIPP, but he's made a pretty smooth transition and has already begun to embrace the KIPP philosophy. He's clearly engaged in his classes and is respected by his teachers, his peers, and at least one front office worker.
At first, I was worried that I was only going to have photographs of Steven in class sitting at a desk and that I wasn't going to be following the strict rules at KIPP. But by the end, I was chasing Steven back and forth from the cafeteria to classrooms as he passed out snacks and at times realizing that he had disappeared from the class he was in, only to find him at the front desk with Ileana. I've come to have a new appreciation for the KIPP philosophy and for the tiny moments that define Steven's experience.
Addtionally, when I was in 5th grade, I had an older brother who was a first-year in college. Now, 8 years later, I'm the first-year in college, and Steven is the 5th grader. It's interesting to be the older kid talking to a younger kid about college- and since Steven is the oldest in his family, I'm sure he'll be sharing these experiences with his younger siblings as well.