4.24

From an article in The Oregonian:


" There are 80 TFAs in Baltimore, and when [TFAer] Rennard's girlfriend comes to visit, she wants nothing to do with them.

'She says it's like hanging out with the survivors of a plane crash,' he says. 'They've all been through something so traumatic that it's impossible to approach them because you don't share the experience. I'm closer to them than I've ever been to anyone. It's like living through a war.'

'This is the hardest thing I will ever do,' he says. 'I don't think I'm doing a good job. Every day I'm failing them in some way. Every day I'm doing something for myself that I could do for the kids.'

Some days, he gets angry: 'Some days, I just go home and play Guitar Hero. 'On the other days, though, he brings food in for the kids who can't afford lunch. He drives them home so they don't have to sit with the Crips on the bus. He lets go of the clock batteries, and carefully hoards the pain and stress of all the learning moments.

'I'm excited for my second year,' Rennard says. 'Every horrible mistake I've made, I'm going to fix. And I've made a thousand mistakes.' "