Each week I try to keep everybody informed. Today though, I just want to share two things that made me smile last week. Being around 1,300 people each day, with most of them being teenagers, isn’t always easy. But there are a lot of great moments that simply make me smile.
My first story is about sitting in an algebra 2 class. Algebra 2 is a graduation requirement and every student has to take it to get across the stage. This wasn’t an honors class. This was a regular good old-fashioned algebra 2 class. The two teachers in the room were going over with the students a couple of complex problems. I’ve shared a photo of one of the problems for you to remind you and maybe even send a shiver down your spine. Anyway, seeing the kids work through several of these complex problems, I was reminded what I don’t miss about being in school. Algebra 2 is tough! But that, of course, isn’t the part that made me smile. What did make me smile was, as complex as the problems were, believe it or not, there is a tune to help you to remember the formula to solve these particular problems. And while I was in the room, this complex crazy formula had a quick jingle that the whole class sang along with the teacher to remember how to execute this complex problem. Yes, 16, 17 and 18-yearold kids singing about a math formula like they probably did as littles in elementary. I grabbed my phone and took a couple snapshots. But the kids right away assumed I was taking a video and all of them pleaded and begged not for me to share any video. There never was any video. I was just snapping photos of the problem on the board. But they didn’t say I couldn’t share the story. So, Mrs. Li and Mrs. Hoel, I’m not sure you’ll ever have a career in singing, but I really enjoyed how you were helping our math students solve complex equations. The kids were crushing it and invested in algebra 2 success!
The second story that made me smile this week is the other picture. You see around school, sometimes I have to be the negative, “No fun police.” And yes, I get called on it often. I had a great student come to me and ask about dressing up for Halloween. And, of course, my principal radar was going off right away. The risk reward there is huge. And I told the student, we could consider it, but it really had to benefit our school. A few days later, in kind of an unrelated way, the “Be the Change” group approached me and reminded me of the upcoming Red Ribbon Week. They wanted to go old school and remind students about the harmful effects of drugs with dress up days. They, of course, would do the announcements and put posters on the wall, but they really wanted to do old school dress up days like they did in the elementary school. Yes, me as the fun police, had to do some worrying, and some shaping of the ideas, but I tried to balance that with the message of Red Ribbon Week and drug awareness. So in the end, each day had a different dress up, and for the most part, our students did a great job.
And so it ended up on Halloween, as part of Red Ribbon Week, our students were allowed to dress up and, of course, that was all good fun. But what made me smile was the reminder of some of the adults in the building and how far they go out of their way to make our kids feel special. This week, shout out to First Sergeant Ricky Thomas, whose cowboy outfit was phenomenal. But the creme de la creme goes to the office staff. Our assistant principal, Mr. Enck, dressed up as Beetlejuice and posed with any kid who wanted a picture. Also, our office support staff went out of their way to make costumes of the seven dwarfs, so that all the kids could see the adults participating and playing along. And, of course, the kids loved it. I want to thank those secretaries and support staff, as I know the job they do is very difficult. I really appreciate all the extra time they spend to make our building special for our students, and yes, sometimes that means dressing up like Beetlejuice and the seven dwarfs.
