MIXED FEELINGS THIS WEEK
Although the words are not exactly accurate, I've been singing "Maggie May" to myself this week. You remember the line, "it's late September and I really should be back at school"? Well, for me it's early August and a big part of me is feeling as if I too should be back at school.
My former colleagues at Baton Rouge Magnet High are back at school--in the brand spanking newly renovated Castle on Government Street. From all accounts, it is an amazing place. I've enjoyed videos, pictures, and Facebook postings sharing the awe and wonder and excitment of the new building. I can't wait to see it, and a part of me feels as if I should be there to share the emotions with them. When I announced my retirement, a huge number of people asked me, "Don't you want to wait ONE more year so that you can at least teach in the new building?" My answer was always "no", and I haven't changed my mind, but it still feels a bit funny NOT being there to share the opening of school with them.
I have never taught in a new school, so I probably wouldn't know how to act. My first teaching position was in Plainview, Texas, and the old 7th grade only school was in bad shape. They build a new one shortly after I left. Then I taught in Hondo, New Mexico in a decent but older school that burned not too many years after I left. They built a new one, obviously, but I missed out on that. Then in Baton Rouge I was at McKinley for five years. It was older too although not in bad shape at that time. Then I was blessed enought to teach at Baton Rouge High for twenty-five years. That lovely old edifice became my home away from home and captured my heart. Unfortunately, the powers that be betrayed her, and BRHS became run down and pretty embarrassing when prospective students came to view her. Then we spent two transitional years at Lee High, which is not in great shape but was no worse than my room at BRHS. And as of this year...the old girl has been spiffed up and is now, once again, taking her rightful place as a landmark.
Of course, the building is not what makes up a school. It's the students and the teachers and the administration and the staff. Mostly the students. The administration is key if they are bad, but most good administrators lead by getting out of the way and letting good teachers teach. I have been privileged to teach some of the most incrediblely talented and intelligent young people during the course of my career. I hope I never took them for granted. I don't think I did, but I'm quite sure I never told them often enough how amazing they were.
Today's Waynesville paper had an article about how well the local school district has performed in recent years, raising the graduation rate and improving on the state mandated standardized tests. They should be proud because their scores are usually higher than the state as a whole, and North Carolina is no slacker when it comes to education. But while they are happy with a graduation rate in the 80% range, I recall that at BRHS virtually every student graduated. Someone recently reported that we had over 20% of our senior class making a 4.0 or higher. I know my own AP scores were always quite impressive. (I've sometimes wondered what the scores are like for the two high schools here; maybe someday I'll be able to find that out first hand, if I sub in one of the schools.) At any rate, I'm sure the kids here, although they are probably above average, are NOT the quality of BRHS students. On a side note, I have been distressed to read about three or four high school students here who were arrested for burning a cross in a bi-racial girl's yard recently. I know prejudice exists at BRHS, but I can't imagine someone doing something like that. The diverse cultural population at that school was one of the things I liked most about it, and even though there were cliques like in any school, I don't think bullying really existed. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but most of our kids seemed to pride themselves on how well all the different groups co-existed. Maybe that's because BRHS is one of the schools where it's not only ok and acceptable to be smart, but it's also encouraged.
I'LL GET OVER IT--SOON I BET!!
So...I knew this would probably happen. I suspected that when school started, I would begin to wonder who the NEW Donna Parker would be since I would no longer be a Baton Rouge High English teacher. I betcha, however, that it won't be long before I get over this feeling of being a fish out of water. I'll continue to mow the grass, feed the birds, read those books, and catch up on all the TV series I've missed out on because I was so busy. (We're loving Doc Martin, by the way, as well as Downtown Abbey. Better late than never!) I'll continue to sleep until I feel like getting up, stay up as late as I want (or go to bed as early as I want), plan trips in my little house on wheels, and just ...be. That sounds like a pretty good trade off to me.
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