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Author: Tom

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Student's Writings
November 25, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Topic: STUFF. We’re surrounded by stuff in life…and in the TCS classroom. Stuff we barely notice. The students were challenged to focus their creativity on a tangible bit of the room they occupy every day. RYLEE…looks at, around, and through the school’s front window and relates it to her personal TCS journey. A View Into Lives   I remember driving past this school for the first time before I even applied. I saw a student turn off the lights, and then the blinds to the window closed. I sorta envisioned myself here at that moment I suppose, only for a second, and then my mom drove off. I would soon return to this school to check out the perimeter. Of course, this time I had already applied. I looked through the window again, and this time I noticed all of the art work that sat there. I was fairly impressed, I must admit. Wrapping my head around that this was really was a school still wasn’t fully there though. Time passed, and I was invited in for a shadow day. When I walked up to the school, I looked through the window once again. This time I noticed the students, students that seemed to be here their whole lives almost.  I finally made my way into the school and I was greeted by Mr Tom. We talked and whatnot,and then, I was directed to my seat. I find it funny how my current seat is very much similar to where I sat that shadowday. I remember looking through the...

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Student's Writings
November 25, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Topic: STUFF. We’re surrounded by stuff in life…and in the TCS classroom. Stuff we barely notice. The students were challenged to focus their creativity on a tangible bit of the room they occupy every day. JUDAH…personifies the omnipresent student water bottles with humor, pathos and street cred. Stuff. (Yeah that's the title). It was a peaceful early morning when me and my people were violently grabbed by giant hands that fell from the sky. I was enclosed in darkness until I woke up in a room. We were spread apart in the room. My wife and my best friend were placed in a corner while I was far away on another desk. At first, everything was quiet. Until I witnessed the unthinkable. My wife was picked up off a table and water was forced down her throat. Then one of the giants lifted her up to their face and started sucking the life out of her. The same happened to my best friend. I was then grabbed and taken to another room, I wasn’t even able to process what had happened.  When I got to the room a name tag was placed on me. It read Mohamed. I was then left in the room… Traumatized. The room was dark and I was placed in a cup holder so I couldn’t turn my head around but I heard a voice.    Crackhead bottle: “Yo n**ga, what up”? Me: Hello, is someone there? Who are you? Crackhead bottle: You know who I am, I'm Crackhead bottle and you, owe me money, n**ga!!!  Me: I don’t...

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Student's Writings
November 25, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]STUFF. We’re surrounded by stuff in life…and in the TCS classroom. Stuff we barely notice. The students were challenged to focus their creativity on a tangible bit of the room they occupy every day. JORDAN…takes up the plight of the long-suffering voiceless inhabitants of the fish tank…Fish Lives Matter, Too. The Tank  You would think that I love my life, but I don’t. I’m the most mistreated animal in history, besides hamsters. You flush me down the toilet when you don’t need me anymore. I get stuck in the same, musty tank for days without it being cleaned. I bet you already knew this, but I’m a fish. Specifically, a fish in The Community School. Of course, Hector forgot to feed us again, like he always does. I don’t know why Mr. Tom thought it was a good idea to put our lives in the hands of the most forgetful person in the school. Also, my health makes life so much harder. I have a bad case of fish asthma. My gills can’t take in enough water, so I feel every bit of pressure in my tiny fish heart. Of course these humans don’t understand anything about fish. That’s why I’m planning to gather all of the fish in the tank for a meeting. We can’t keep living like this under the authoritarian rule of the homosapien species. I call this revolution Fish Lives Matter, or FLM for short. We have been abused, tortured, and eaten for years without a second thought.  Every other object in the room has...

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TCS Student News
November 21, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] [embed]https://youtu.be/9-BxScBp6Zc[/embed] Climate change and environmental issues are very important to the students. The main story examines the COP30 conference held in Brazil. Stories around the school include a visit to The Walters Art Museum, a Conversation with filmmaker Chris LaMartina, a theatre class at The Lyric, and a Conversation with representatives from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern. This week's Spotlight is on longtime Creative Writing teacher Don Riesett. This week's TCS Student News was produced by Mohamed Cisse and Judah Patterson with production assistance from Hector Rivas.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]...

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News, TCS Student News
November 14, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] [embed]https://youtu.be/Uyz24-6aapc[/embed] The war and tragedy in Sudan is explored as the main story this week. It was a busy time around the school. News includes a special Conversation with dancer, actor and educator Maria Broom and another with Baltimore Children & Youth Fund program officer Whitney Palmer, a Spotlight on TCS volunteer office manager Leah Culotta, an art seminar with Chris Ciattei and a Family Fun Game Night at the school. This edition was produced by Khori Mitchell and Jason Bartlett with production assistance from Mohamed Cisse.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]...

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Student's Writings
November 13, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]CHANGED FOR GOOD…The students were asked to reflect on a relationship that has affected their life for the better MOHAMED…reminds us that the most important person who can change us for the better is ourself. No One’s Coming to Save Me I was six years old when my family left Mali. I didn’t understand why at first. I just remember the long flight, the boxes we couldn’t bring, and my mother whispering that America would give me a better life. But “better” didn’t come easy.We didn’t have much money.  My parents worked long hours, and I learned early how to make things last, one pair of shoes for everything, from school to the playground to Eid prayer. Kids at school noticed. They laughed at my accent, my clothes, and even my name. I’d smile like it didn’t bother me, but when I got home, I’d sit in silence, replaying every insult in my head. Middle school was the worst. Everyone wanted to fit in, and I stuck out. I didn’t talk much. I kept to myself. Sometimes I’d pretend to be sick just to avoid the noise, the jokes, the whispers. I didn’t know it then, but all that pain was teaching me how to stay calm in the middle of chaos. Back then, basketball was just something I watched on YouTube. I’d see players like Kevin Durant glide across the court, and I’d imagine what it felt like to move like that. But I never really played. I told myself I didn’t have the time, or the...

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News
November 8, 2025

The school was filled with laughter and happiness as students, families and volunteers enjoyed a Family Fun Game Night at the school! A lot us us learned new games and people shared their favorites. There were so many games being played simultaneously from uno to jingo, chess to dominos and many more. of course there was some great food too. Special thanks to Lisa Knickmeyer who coordinated the event and to all who supplied food and drink and helped set up and clean up. A great time was had by all!...

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Student's Writings
November 8, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] CHANGED FOR GOOD…The students were asked to reflect on a relationship that has affected their life for the better. RUTH…pens a tribute to her mother’s story of resilience and love. Change for Good         My mother, Carla Lizette Monge Rivas, was born May 20, 1975, in Suchitoto, El Salvador. She was actually born on May 18th, but the doctors had messed up her birth certificate. She’s the middle child of a 4-child household. Both my grandparents were always busy working hard for her and her siblings. So, from a very young age, she learned to be independent and take care of herself. When she was in the middle of college at age 25, she chose to leave school to come work here in the U.S. Like almost every, if not all, immigrants, my mom came here in search of a better life and a way to help my grandparents.          She would very soon meet my brother’s dad, get pregnant, and start her business. When Jonathan was only 27 days old, he was sent to El Salvador to my grandparents because my mom couldn’t take care of him due to her business and not being financially stable. She met my dad during that time, but they didn’t actually start dating until 3 years after meeting. She then got pregnant with Karla, and a year later, she got pregnant with me, her favorite child.         The thing about my mom is that she’s too kind. She goes out of her way...

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Student's Writings
November 8, 2025

CHANGED FOR GOOD…The students were asked to reflect on a relationship that has affected their life for the better. JORDAN…introduces us to someone outside her family, but deeply inside her heart. Change For Good The first person that comes to mind for this prompt is Ms. Wickless, also known as my TCS sponsor. I met her in my 8th grade year at Sisters Academy of Baltimore. There were three teachers in charge of the Graduate Support program. Ms. Fortson, Ms. Evans, and finally Ms. Wickless. My class had about 14 students and we were split into groups based on how much help we needed with picking a high school.  Ms. Fortson took students that needed the most help, which was half of the class. Ms. Evans took students that were somewhere in the middle. Ms. Wickless took students that didn’t need as much help as the other two groups. Surprisingly, I was in her group with two other students. We sat down in a quiet room and got to know each other better. It was a little awkward because this was the first time we’ve actually met this lady. The first impression I got from her is that she was very friendly and easy to talk to. That made it easy for me because I have trouble talking to people I don’t know. During the half an hour we spent together, I took notes. I didn’t just jot down a couple words, I actually wrote enough to fill up at least a full side of my notepad. I may not...

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Student's Writings
November 8, 2025

CHANGED FOR GOOD…The students were asked to reflect on a relationship that has affected their life for the better. MINGO…relates how a young man named Bird has changed her for good. Better Change for the Good There are a lot of people that I can write about; within friends, family, and teachers, there are more than a few people that have changed me for the better.  In my family, my dad, mom, and younger brother have had quite the impact on me. I will dedicate this section to my younger brother. As much as I want this to be a heartful piece I can’t guarantee it. My brother's name is Bird. That’s a story in itself. You might be asking me; why is your brother named Bird? Although he will never admit it, I’m pretty sure when I got my nickname ‘Mingo’ he looked up to me, and wanted a nickname as well. He was into birds at the time (we all were!), hence the name: Bird.  Bird and I differ more often than not. We don’t have a lot in common, but the things we do have in common are: reading, talking, watching movies/series (yep! That's about it). My brother was born in 2013 which means that he is Gen Alpha. The 67 jokes in my household stem mainly from him (and my dad surprisingly). So the question remains: How do you interact with a member of Gen Alpha? Sometimes, I will just be minding my business, doing my homework, cleaning my room and then I hear it. Bird...

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