Drama at Prom

You've got to read last week's post to understand this week's...

After the mayhem of the senior pranks, Ms. Marrow went easy on the students, all things considered. Her original threat of canceling all the senior week activities subsided, and instead she punished just the pranksters themselves. She was able to catch them all from the security cameras and despite raging parent protests, no one involved in the crime was allowed at prom.

Fast forward to last Thursday. Prom night at a local country club! To my delight, the students were beautifully dressed and everyone was looking great. When I was in high school, some girls pulled some skanky stunts on prom- and others just looked all out terrible in dress styles they should have never worn. These students, however, all looked fabulous, and it was clear that the girls were the boss- every boy matched his date to a T. There were corsages and boutonnieres, and everyone showed up in a limo. Everyone, that is, but one couple...

I was outside with my roommates when a straight-up Cinderella style horse and carriage pulled up the driveway to the prom. The couple inside was dressed to the nines. Yet something was amiss- the crowd outside started buzzing and I saw our administrators rush to the front of the crowd. At first I thought that maybe the issue was the horse. Do you have to get permission to have a horse trot up to the front of a country club mansion? Security approached the carriage: "You've got to move along, get out, get out now!"

The boy in the carriage stood up and addressed the gaping crowd. "Yeah ya'll! This how I bring my boo boo to prom!" The girl shouted "Yeaaah we won't be here long, don't worry!" Then it dawned on me: These were party crashers, the banned senior pranksters! I couldn't believe the gonads these kids had. But worst of all were the parents backing them up. They brought an entourage and made a scene. Our principal had to leave the beautiful celebration of the night to deal with a wildly inappropriate parents who were still furious that their kids were being punished. It was sad to see adults reinforcing such flagrantly disrespectful behavior. Well, as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

I wish I had taken pictures at the event. It's hard not to feel like a kid at a dance! I felt like it would have been weird for me to have kids pose- we are, after all, the lame-o chaperons. All in all, it was a joyful evening. I'm always so happy to see my students in a positive light.

Memorial day weekend was delightful. Summer is SO HERE. I'll write again soon.
Peace and Love.

Lock down

"Adios chicos! Have a safe and fun weekend! Ciao! Hasta!" I called out to my students over the blare of the bell. Three periods down, one to go before I was free for the weekend. I took up my duty post outside my door to monitor the halls in between class. It was the Seniors' last day, and there were tears, hugs and pictures as students realized this was really it. Last period of the last day!

Suddenly, screams erupted. The hallways flooded with kids. "ALL STUDENTS MUST ENTER A CLASSROOM NOW!" The secretary yelled over the PA. "ALL TEACHERS PLEASE ADMIT STUDENTS, ANY STUDENTS NEAR YOUR DOOR INTO YOUR CLASSROOM. THIS IS A LOCKDOWN SITUATION I REPEAT A LOCKDOWN SITUATION, ALL STUDENTS YOU MUST GET TO A CLASSROOM IN THE NEXT 30 SECONDS."

Lockdown?
Lockdown?
My heart leaped to my throat. Why a lockdown? A gun in school? A trespasser? It really could be anything. We've never had an actual lockdown before.

"Come in, all you all down there, come in!" I yelled, suddenly militant. I herded at least 20 kids into my room and shut my door.

"What's going on?" I asked them.

"Rats!" A girl screamed.

"Rats! And snakes! And CRICKETS!" Another boy said, waving the news-bearing text message in the air.

"AND STINK BOMBS! TWO STINK BOMBS!" another one reported.

Nope, not a gun. Not a trespasser. But instead, a carefully plotted and rather impressive Senior Prank on the last day of high school. An entire menagerie released in the school's main hallways. And best of all? Every administrator distracted by an enormous food fight in the cafeteria- a purposely planned diversion.

As a survivor of the Wahconah Regional High School smoke bomb/cricket invasion of '05, I couldn't help but laugh. But just like the idiots in my day, the students were about to see some punishment. As they'd say, our principal "don't play." Last I knew, she was on her way to PetCo to check out the security cameras and find the perpetrators.

What a way to kick off a weekend!
It's been an equally exciting week. Updates soon.
Peace and love!

Going...Going...Gone

First of all, buying MLB.TV was the best decision of my life. I'm watching NESN right now, in HD, from my bigscreen TV, and I'm in DC. And if I get bored of it, I can watch EVERY OTHER GAME in the country, from ALL WEEK LONG. God, I love baseball season!

Gwynn Park's baseball season is also wrapping up- and wouldn't you know, we're going to the playoffs! My baseball players have become my favorite students and they know it. What can I say? Even I would much rather discuss the kid that got beaned in the head at yesterday's game than the imperfect verb conjugations at hand.

In other news, Meredith and I are taking over the position of Department Chair for the Foreign Language Department next year. By co-chairing, we'll take over not only the decision making for our department but also the stipend. The trade off is a couple after school meetings a month, which is fine by me. Sitting at the Department Chair meeting this afternoon was kind of awesome- it brought back memories of APO eboard in a rush, proof that college really is training for real life. We really have a phenomenal administration, and I loved being on the "inside" and hearing about what's up and coming.

In fun news, I've been filling my weekends up to the brim: dinner dates, baseball games, and last weekend I hosted my first ever adult dinner party! I had my Spanish tutor Laura and her husband Sean over for dinner. The menu came straight from Giada (a never fail) and the night was a bilingual affair of joy! Some Peruvian food has been promised in return for later this summer!

Peace and Love to everyone as the warm weather takes over bit by bit... Summer is almost here!