Rain Maker

This afternoon marked the debut of our new school mascot. We have long been the yellow jackets, and we have a pretty good cheerleading squad, but we have never had an actual mascot until today. They held auditions a week ago, and a lot of sixth graders went out for the chance to wear the cute plush costume and entertain the crowd at home games. They chose six kids to make sure someone was always available, and three of the six are in my class.

The occasion of the Yellow Jacket's premiere was the last home game for the girls basketball team. Before the tip off, there was a ceremony honoring the eighth graders; the coach presented them with flowers and thanked them for their dedication. I watched the poignant moment from the stands, remembering those girls as sixth graders not so very long ago. I knew that they had never won a home game in their three years on the team, and I wished them well.

Wow. Maybe it was the mascot; maybe it was simple pride; maybe it was both, but those girls came out playing harder than I've ever seen. The atmosphere was fun-- the mascot was awesome and the fans were behind the team all the way, and in a super-close game with a fairy tale ending, they won it by one point. Yay!

Crazy Hearts

The kids were very excited about Valentine's Day today-- more so than in recent years, I think. Certainly I received more candy and cards than usual. One student also presented me with a flower she had made out of duct tape-- it was pretty impressive, and it will definitely stay in my curio collection for a while.

Right before lunch, I looked up to find another student mouthing words at me and giggling. I squinted at him and then raised my eye brows. That cheeky boy raised his brows right back at me and continued on with his sweet nothings. Fortunately, I had been tipped off about this prank earlier in the day. "Olive Juice to you, too," I answered him.

Never Mind

Today on the phone my sister told me a funny story about how disappointed her kids were when the attendants at the valet parking weren't wearing tutus and dance slippers. It made me think of Emily Litella-- What's all this about... violins on TV? The deaf penalty? Conserving our natural race horses? Youth in Asia?

It also reminded me of how excited I was on the first day of second grade when our teacher told us we were going to the laboratory, and then how confused when we ended up at the bathroom.

Thaw

The trail down to Raccoon Creek was muddy from all the melted snow. Fifty degrees in February was a welcome break from our recent frosty weather and so we decided to take a walk at a nearby wildlife refuge. The pale sun was not quite warm in the shadeless winter woods, but we had them and the blue, blue sky to ourselves all the way down to the creek, unless you count the woodpeckers and robins as company. (Welcome back, robins!)

Once at the water, we saw a couple gulls and a bald eagle, and when we made it to the marsh, we were greeted by hundreds of tundra swans wintering in the wetlands. Some of the big white birds were clamoring, some were foraging, some were basking in the buttery sunshine, and some doing that graceful swan swimming thing. It was surreal and beautiful and a little hard to turn away from, but the days are still short and so we headed back.

Back to School

I went back to work today, not fully recovered but certainly much, much better than I have been. It wasn't going to be a strenuous day: I knew my students would be busy typing during class time, and I wanted a chance to get a little organized for next week. I also figured if it wiped me out, I'd be able to rest some more over the weekend.

It was nice to be back-- many of my colleagues expressed concern and wished me well and the students seemed very happy to have me back. Too happy, in fact. It didn't take long to notice that they cheered my return without even asking about my absence beyond an occasional accusatory "Where were you?"

In what became a typical conversation of the day, I would answer, "I was sick," in a voice still a bit congested and punctuated by a little cough now and then.

The inevitable reply? "Well thank goodness you're better, because that sub you had was meeeeeeaaaaan!"

See? Education really is all about the students. It's all about them.

Breadcrumbs

Sometimes the signs all seem to point in a single direction. Several weeks ago, we saw a preview for a movie which was memorable mostly because it had one of the actors from Glee in it. A couple weeks after that, we were watching TV on a snow day when we saw another young actor badgered into removing his shirt. He was on the show to promote that same movie. Just last week, one of my students told me that her whole family was reading a particular book-- they had it in hard cover and kindle versions and they kept swiping them from each other to get a little farther along. "You should really read it," she told me earnestly, "it's that good." And then the day before yesterday, when my head hurt too much to read or watch TV, or almost anything else except lie in a dim room, it occurred to me to look for an audiobook I could listen to (turned down very low) to at least distract me a little from my misery. The first one I found was I Am Number Four, which was the very same movie and book from each of these other anecdotes.

I finished it a little earlier today, and I liked it enough to look forward to seeing the movie when it opens next week and to pre-order the next book in the series (not out until August). And, if nothing else, it saw me through to a point in my little illness where I can once again sit in a lighted room or in front of a screen for more than a couple of minutes. Thank you, Pittacus Lore. (Yeah, that's a pen name.)

Not Quite on My Way

Being sick today was like being stuck at the airport when your flight has been delayed-- there's nowhere to go, and none of the food tastes good. I sat around all day drinking water and listening to an audiobook. Fortunately, my couch was slightly more comfortable than the notorious gate area seating, but I'm still waiting to hear that boarding call for my flight back to wellness.