The Denver Street School - Bringing Hope To Denvers At-Risk Youth

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“Only at DSS”   By: Christina Schmitzler (East Campus English Teacher)

That saying has become a running joke at the school, used by students and teachers alike. The situations it is applied to run the gamut from the humorous to the heartbreaking. We’ve all had our own “Only at DSS” moments, but here are some of my favorites:

• The fact that students know the name of my dog and the name of my car.
• The fact that the backseat of my car has been claimed by several different students over the years as their own personal locker. (I think I still have things back there from 2005.)
• The fact that former students still visit, years later. (Come get your stuff out of my car!)
• The fact that some of these former students now work here, and I go to church with them!
• The fact that I can take students to church.
• The fact that I can tell them that I am not a perfect person, but have been saved by grace.
• The fact that almost all of them have my cell phone number, and some know it by heart.

I’ve been called at all hours of the day and night for all sorts of emergencies. I’ve spent nights at the hospital and been to doctor’s appointments, baby showers and baptisms.  None of this is in the job description of a high school English teacher. Only at DSS, I wouldn’t have it any other way.