Pandas on the Eastside Eastside school Some kids at school don’t even speak English Some kids never bring lunch Some kids only come to class once or twice a week or they come late every day My teacher Miss Bickerstaff sighs a lot and sends a lot of notes home and writes letters to politicians I’ve heard some parents gossip in the schoolyard that all she wants is more pay and better sofas in the staff room but she let me read one of the letters once She was asking for more books and chalk and better blackboards Stuff for us not her Stuff to make the school a better place to learn Learning is the key that unlocks your future Journey she said Then she blew her nose Our classroom is real dusty sometimes I think it must be hard to be a teacher on the Eastside 5
Two Miss Bickerstaff I saw the headline on a piece of newspaper that Kentucky Jack had folded over his head to keep the morning sun out of his eyes while he slept in the bus shelter Ewwww Nancy Pendleton said when I leaned down to take a closer look I could hear Jack snoring under the newspaper and I could sure smell him too but I wanted to read the headline PANDAS COMING TO AMERICA Under the paper Jack grunted and rolled over in his sleep The newspaper slipped off his head and fell into a suspicious-looking puddle under the bench Gross Don’t pick it up Nancy said I really 6
Pandas on the Eastside wanted to but she was probably right Who knew what was in that puddle There are pandas coming to America I said as we walked away What are pandas Nancy said Nancy was one of the kids at our school who never really learned to read It wasn’t her fault She has something wrong with her eyes that makes the letters look upside down and backward and the words get all mixed up I tried to explain it to a teacher Mrs Parker one day when we were in grade two but she made us both write lines on the board I will not tell lies we wrote twenty times Most of Nancy’s lines said I llw ont tle lise Teachers never made Nancy write lines again But they never taught her to read either A panda is a bear It’s mostly white with black eyes I explained Black eyes Nancy said Did someone punch them No I explained patiently They just have black fur around their eyes Like raccoons They come from China 7
Gabrielle Prendergast From China And they’re coming to America Are they going to swim I really wanted to laugh then because the idea of pandas swimming across the Pacific Ocean was sure funny but Nancy had a habit of body checking people who laugh at her I think they’ll probably come in a boat I said I sure wish I could see a panda That would be groovy Groovy was a word I heard the big kids saying all the time I liked the way it sounded like the purr of a big fluffy cat Grooooooovvvvyyyy Maybe you can see one Nancy said When they get to America where will they go Washington dc it said That’s the far Washington not the close one Nancy looked disappointed But even if the pandas were going to the close Washington that was still hours away and anyway I could never afford to go And certainly Nancy couldn’t Maybe there will be a picture in the paper when they arrive I said Then I made a promise to myself to save up a few dimes so if there was a picture in the paper I could buy a copy instead of picking a 8
