On dress-down days, Sherlae’s outfits almost always include sequins and sparkles. Whenever she passes a window, she lights up, in a way that matches her sunny personality and big, dimpled smile.
But for years, because of strife at home, she had to force herself to look cheerful each morning as she walked into her school, Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep in uptown New Orleans. “I always try to put on a happy, smiling — not sad — face,” said Sherlae, 13, whose middle name is used here to protect her privacy.
Today, that smile more often reflects an authentic happiness, or “sunshiny-ness,” as Sherlae describes it. But when her mood clouds, she knows how to address it. After a recent sleepless night when her mom visited, talking loud, a bottle of whiskey in hand, Sherlae walked off the yellow bus and into Crocker’s social-work office, with its comfy rocker and bean bag chairs.
[For more of this story, written by Katy Reckdahl, go to http://hechingerreport.org/a-n...dren-as-sad-not-bad/]
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