As I walked through the doors of the Charter School Conference wheeling suitcases full of CER’s tote bags, I watched the subtle expression of confusion emerge on the toughened face of the security guard ahead of me. I tried to appear confident, but insecurely felt that my ambivalence was radiating. We had been unsure of how far into the conference we could get without official passes, so we planned to go as far as possible until someone told us to stop. The guard’s glance hung momentarily, until he looked away in a gesture that signaled our freedom. We had beaten security through phase one, but the future of our bagging enterprise remained uncertain. I never gave up hope, but I truthfully expected us to be discovered and arraigned as those fraudulent interns set on a covert mission…to distribute free bags.
In all seriousness, what we were doing was harmless. Our supervisors were rightful members of this year’s convention, and had spent their own precious resources on an assortment of informational material that they wanted to give out to attendees. As interns, we had no intention of sneaking into any of the meetings or lectures but merely to stand and give away free bags—bags that charter school enthusiasts continually told us were better than those they had received through the convention.
Putting security concerns on the back burner, we split up into teams and began handing out the 900 bags that we aimed to distribute over the course of two days. After fifteen minutes of excited crowds flooding out of the escalators grabbing bags from us like crazy, I soon realized that we would be out of bags before noon. Once one member of a group wanted a bag, everyone wanted a bag. Of course people love free stuff, but I was shocked by the sincere appreciation I felt from seemingly everyone that walked by. Even those poor few who somehow decided not to take a bag seemed happy that we had offered and often commended our efforts. It was clear that our give-away was brightening the atmosphere of the convention, but what was even more uplifting was realizing that we were dealing with a very happy group of people.
Looking at everyone walking into the building, one would have thought they were on their way to see The Beatles performing live. There was a sense of urgency to find their particular meeting or lecture, but the urgency came from excitement more than stress. As droves of people took the extra time and effort to say thank you with the sincerest of smiles, I learned not to be surprised by the kindness of charter school activists. They had traveled from all over the country as representatives of organizations, as school board members, as teachers, as parents—as the body of the charter school movement. Despite all of the challenges they encounter and the setbacks they face, the change that they are a part of makes the battle worth fighting for. It is a rare and inspiring experience to find motivated individuals that overcome the cynicism of politics and find a way to genuinely love what they are a part of. But here, I had found thousands of them.
So we gave them all away by the end of the morning, one bag at a time. And even though security eventually caught up with a few of our fellow intern soldiers, their efforts were not in vein. All 900 bags found a home, and I had the pleasure of seeing for myself that the essence of the charter movement is incredibly positive.
Austin White is a rising senior at the University of California, Santa Barbara majoring in Political Science. He is from California, and we’re excited he’s ventured to the east coast for an internship with the Center for Education Reform this summer.