Rahmbo Teaches An AP Class... And Likes It

By Soyoung Kwak in Miscellaneous on Feb 26, 2011 5:00PM

We've all had our fair share of interesting substitute teachers when we were younger. No matter how much we try to suppress our memories, we always seem to remember the substitute teachers that had definite "personalities": some were very awesome, but there were also some who were clearly insane. Falling into the more "badass" category, mayor-to-be Rahm Emanuel paid a visit to the Ralph Ellison School in Auburn-Gresham to teach AP Government to a classroom full of high school students.

Rahm's appearance at Ralph Ellison wasn't a complete surprise, as it was a fulfillment of a campaign promise he had made to a teacher. And what a campaign promise it was - the mayor-elect didn't leave the classroom without any thanks. In fact, he was treated to much more:

Before honoring the promise to teacher Lindsey Spears, Emanuel was treated to a student-written-and-performed hip-hop rap that brought some of the mayor-elect's campaign rhetoric to life. In a commercial, Emanuel had talked about the vacant look he saw in the eyes of too many hopeless kids. In his victory speech, he talked about not having "won anything" until kids going to school are concerned about their studies - not their safety.

The mayor-elect was moved by the students' performance, which tackled both themes of education and safety, and Rahm also offered some words on how he felt about the message the students were attempting to convey:

"The kids clearly have internalized the notion of education and its value. That gave me hope. . . . At the same time, children are facing a reality today where they are thinking of their safety and not their studies," Emanuel said.

Sounds like a pretty positive post electoral win experience. But that leaves us to wonder: what would a math class be like if Rahm Emanuel taught it? The world may never know.