$.25
Today was a truly momentous occasion with regard to my runs.
You may have noticed that after each date notation, there is a dollar amount stated. There should be a proper explanation for this, and today couldn’t be a better time.
As you know, I’ve run the same route for nearly three years now. Very early on in my journey, I kept finding coins on the street. More often than not, the coin I would find would be a lowly penny, hence the title of this blog, One-Cent Day.
Many times, I would pass by that penny thinking, “It’s just a penny. Why stop for that?”
But then one week, I passed that same penny for five days straight. Finally, I thought, “Why not pick it up? No one else has and it seems like some kind of sign. It has been waiting for me.”
Almost every day since, I have come across some kind of coin on my run. Again, more often than not, it’s just a penny, but I take it as a sign that I’m somehow on the right path and that those coins are put in my path for a reason. To this day, I’ve held onto my collection of coins and never spent them.
Now, every once in a great while, I’ll come across something other than penny. Mostly dimes and nickels, but today, you guessed it, the coin awaiting me was a shiny silver quarter. It’s happened before, so I won’t kid you or myself that it somehow means that this blog I’ve started is adding to the greater good of society. But I don’t think I can convey my level of excitement at finding such a sum.
What I think is most interesting is that I find any coins at all in this neighborhood. One would think that every penny counts here – that every last one of them goes to good use. But that has not been my experience. I find this dichotomy particularly relevant to the current state of Dunbar High School, one of the best-known things about Truxton Circle.
According to what information I could find, Dunbar High School (in its original location at First Street, NW, bewteen N and O Streets, NW) was the first black public high school in the country. The original high school was known by a couple of different names -- Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, and later, M Street High School. It was at one point a draw for black youth interested in going to college. In fact, many African-American families moved to the area because of the prestigious nature of the school. It graduated many students who would go on to national recognition, including Sterling Brown, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Charles R. Drew, Charles Hamilton Houston, Robert H. Terrell and Robert C. Weaver. One of its faculty members was Carter G. Woodson, father of National Black History Month. It also graduated Ed Brooke, who would become a US Senator (and whom we now know had an affair with news figure Barbara Walters).
Today was a truly momentous occasion with regard to my runs.
You may have noticed that after each date notation, there is a dollar amount stated. There should be a proper explanation for this, and today couldn’t be a better time.
As you know, I’ve run the same route for nearly three years now. Very early on in my journey, I kept finding coins on the street. More often than not, the coin I would find would be a lowly penny, hence the title of this blog, One-Cent Day.
Many times, I would pass by that penny thinking, “It’s just a penny. Why stop for that?”
But then one week, I passed that same penny for five days straight. Finally, I thought, “Why not pick it up? No one else has and it seems like some kind of sign. It has been waiting for me.”
Almost every day since, I have come across some kind of coin on my run. Again, more often than not, it’s just a penny, but I take it as a sign that I’m somehow on the right path and that those coins are put in my path for a reason. To this day, I’ve held onto my collection of coins and never spent them.
Now, every once in a great while, I’ll come across something other than penny. Mostly dimes and nickels, but today, you guessed it, the coin awaiting me was a shiny silver quarter. It’s happened before, so I won’t kid you or myself that it somehow means that this blog I’ve started is adding to the greater good of society. But I don’t think I can convey my level of excitement at finding such a sum.
What I think is most interesting is that I find any coins at all in this neighborhood. One would think that every penny counts here – that every last one of them goes to good use. But that has not been my experience. I find this dichotomy particularly relevant to the current state of Dunbar High School, one of the best-known things about Truxton Circle.
According to what information I could find, Dunbar High School (in its original location at First Street, NW, bewteen N and O Streets, NW) was the first black public high school in the country. The original high school was known by a couple of different names -- Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, and later, M Street High School. It was at one point a draw for black youth interested in going to college. In fact, many African-American families moved to the area because of the prestigious nature of the school. It graduated many students who would go on to national recognition, including Sterling Brown, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Charles R. Drew, Charles Hamilton Houston, Robert H. Terrell and Robert C. Weaver. One of its faculty members was Carter G. Woodson, father of National Black History Month. It also graduated Ed Brooke, who would become a US Senator (and whom we now know had an affair with news figure Barbara Walters). The structure that now exists at the corner of N Street, NW, and New Jersey Avenue, NW, was built in the 1960s after the original school was deconstructed, and it was from there that its reputation for student excellence was transferred to its sports notoriety. Several students have gone on to play college and professional football. 
However, as one former student put it, “the school may not be the best academically, but it really helps you find yourself. It teaches how to deal with peer pressure, who you are and how to make wise decisions. You have to find a place for yourself at Dunbar.”
Some parents have said Dunbar is “full of out-of-control teens, bad teachers and a failing infrastructure,” but a more revealing review of the school comes from a recent graduate: “I found the school to be quite exceptional. The curriculum was outstanding and the school has a variety of opportunities to offer teens. Entering, I was considered an out-of-control teen, but upon leaving I was a educated, young, black, teen parent with a vision of what I wanted in the future.”
I look at Dunbar High School only from the outside – a mass of khaki-colored brick, thick cement and peeling sheet metal. It’s an imposing structure that looks more like a prison or detention center than a high school. But if one turns down N Street, NW, and heads to the backside of the school, a different Dunbar emerges. A state-of-the-art track and football field gleam against the seriously downtrodden exterior of the high school. Maybe that’s where those in charge have chosen to pour what little money they receive from the District’s coffers. I have a feeling they understand that the only thing that’s really working for current high school students is their dedication to sports – and the powers that be are feeding what works.
Most recently, the Dunbar staff has added a new adornment to the outside of their building: a banner that proclaims Dunbar as a Blue Ribbon School as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
I guess looks can be deceiving…
Bryan
However, as one former student put it, “the school may not be the best academically, but it really helps you find yourself. It teaches how to deal with peer pressure, who you are and how to make wise decisions. You have to find a place for yourself at Dunbar.”
Some parents have said Dunbar is “full of out-of-control teens, bad teachers and a failing infrastructure,” but a more revealing review of the school comes from a recent graduate: “I found the school to be quite exceptional. The curriculum was outstanding and the school has a variety of opportunities to offer teens. Entering, I was considered an out-of-control teen, but upon leaving I was a educated, young, black, teen parent with a vision of what I wanted in the future.”
I look at Dunbar High School only from the outside – a mass of khaki-colored brick, thick cement and peeling sheet metal. It’s an imposing structure that looks more like a prison or detention center than a high school. But if one turns down N Street, NW, and heads to the backside of the school, a different Dunbar emerges. A state-of-the-art track and football field gleam against the seriously downtrodden exterior of the high school. Maybe that’s where those in charge have chosen to pour what little money they receive from the District’s coffers. I have a feeling they understand that the only thing that’s really working for current high school students is their dedication to sports – and the powers that be are feeding what works.
Most recently, the Dunbar staff has added a new adornment to the outside of their building: a banner that proclaims Dunbar as a Blue Ribbon School as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
I guess looks can be deceiving…
Bryan
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