Congratulations to me for completing the first full week of the new school year! So far, it's going well. To my surprise, the school gave me and a handful of other teachers a pleasant little bonus check for having perfect attendance last year. That always brightens one's day.
The only drama occurred when the outside door handle of the student restroom fell off while a girl was inside. She was pounding and screaming, so one of the guys---who may have had prior experience with B & E---was at the door astutely applying his credit card, trying to slide the lock open. I lost the attention of all the students, of course, as several hovered around the door yelling at the girl, another was sent to the main building to find a custodian, and I tried in vain to buzz the front office. It's not connected yet, however. They can intercom me, but I can't intercom back. A custodian finally appeared 10 minutes after the student-runner had alerted her about the problem. She then radioed Maintenance. Since there was nothing anyone could do until maintenance arrived, I closed the door to the restroom hallway and demanded the class to get back to what we were doing. Ten minutes later, the door opened, and the trapped student appeared, having been released by Maintenance.
During the next block, I was just about to "share" some of the scanned student work via the projector when the bulb blew out. I was using my own LCD since the school hasn't yet installed my permanent one. Those bulbs cost several hundred dollars, and I was reluctant to spend that much for my teaching. To my surprise, the school unearthed an LCD projector from somewhere and gave it to me the next day.
Week before last, a young man who graduated from the high school a decade ago was killed in Afghanistan. His mother is one of the middle school teachers. The Marines are very loyal to their fellow soldiers and Richmond Hill is a small town, so a big fallen hero's welcome was planned, beginning last Wednesday when his body arrived in Savannah and was escorted by motorcade from the airport to a Richmond Hill Funeral Home. The streets were lined with flags and people for miles. All the teachers turned out, as well as townspeople. Liberto and I went to the calling hours last night. Even though I hadn't known the young man, I felt tremendous empathy for his family, especially his mother, a fellow teacher. Soon I, too, will be the mother of a soldier. The line of callers was so long that it took two-and-a-half hours for us to get from the outside of the building to the family members who were receiving.
Shawn is leaving for Ft. Jackson on August 25. During the nine weeks of Basic Training, he will not be allowed visitors, phone calls, or emails. There will be one Visitor's Day just before graduation. Then, he will be shipped out to a destination now unknown.
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