A Simple Plan

The only time I went to the Bronx was to watch the Yankees.

Of course, I had been born there 20 years earlier, but why leave my relatively regal neighborhood for this eyesore.

It was called a J-O-B and mine was at IS 84 in the South Bronx.

I parked my goldChevrolet Malibu coupe in the street, certain I would never see it again.

As I approached the school, the smell was overwhelming.

Several dogs were lying in the street and I wondered why anyone would let their dog take a nap on a city street.

I discovered they weren't napping, they were dead.

The smell of urine and trash were constant reminders where you were.

You had entered Hell.

But in New York City, it had another name.

It was what was known as public education.

No one had a clue what to do about it.

Forty years later, they still don't.

The beginnings of The Vocabulary Project (Facebook) had its start on that street in the South Bronx.

I ask you to join me now.

My plan is simple, but it is a plan.

And it has worked for so many.