Blythe, California

A coworker, Colleen, and I flew to Phoenix today to rent a car so we could drive two hours west to Blythe, CA. We are going on a school site visit tomorrow. This town could be a poster town for the definition of Podunk or Jerkwater. It is rolled out in a long narrow strip along the interstate with the usual businesses: gas stations, McDonald's, Denny's, Jack in the Box and about a dozen Mexican restaurants. There is one store to shop at: K-Mart. There is one grocery store and one drug store. Why are there so many motels and hotels and nothing else? Colleen and I kept asking ourselves why people are living here. What is there to do besides work in the retail businesses? Why do people choose to live here? Maybe it is not a choice for many. Maybe they grew up here, have family here, have settled down and are going through the motions day after day without laying any roadwork for leaving. It is October and about 90 degrees out. There are no parks, no recreation centers and one cinema that is playing 3 week old movies.

For me, I would be bored. I need the busy-ness of the city. I need choice: ethnic food choices, movie choices, the opportunity to see a play, the beach, parks and downtown.

It will be interesting to see what the school is like. It is supposed to be an AVID demonstration school, so it should be one of our best. This means that the AVID classes have a college-going culture, there are tutors from the college working in the AVID classrooms, the students in AVID want to go to college, the administration is behind the AVID effort and is working to "AVID-ize" the school. This is a town where there is not much opportunity that I can see, so I am curious to ask the students about their plans for the future. That is my favorite part: talking to the students. I also like observing the classrooms.

After I write up the report and present it to the AVID coordinator, we will get back in our Chevy and drive back through the deserted desert to Phoenix to catch the plane to San Diego.

Tomorrow I will learn a lot from the students.