Ye Olde Alma Mater

After 24 years, I went back to my old high school this week. From the outside, Crestview High doesn't look like it's changed much. Sure, there are more buildings, but it's still basically a sprawl of brick and metal roofs. Inside, however, I soon got lost. Not that I remember much about the high school years, anyway. Thank goodness for the maps posted in the hallways. When I graduated in 1982, there were 232 in my class and perhaps 800 kids in the entire school. Now there are 2000. That makes for a lot of kids in the hallways between classes. You either run with the herd or get ran over.

I went in to sub for one of the math teachers on Wednesday. At least Crestview gave me a Teacher's Handbook and I could read up on rules and policies during my planning period. I found out that no, students were not allowed to eat and drink in class, and no, they were not allowed to have cell phones or I-Pods out in class. I confiscated a few of those while I was there. I also found out that several of my former teachers are STILL teaching at Crestview High School. This astounds me. I thought they were old when I was in school. Of course, now that I look back I realize they weren't THAT old. I haven't run into any of my old teachers yet. I'm a little scared to approach them. If they don't remember me (and why should they?) I'm wondering how I'll feel about that. Crestview High School also has a much nicer teacher's lounge with large tables along with the prerequisite floral couches. But, the teacher's lounge also has three big windows, a premium when you're stuck all day in a brick building with slits for windows.

On Thursday, I went back to CHS and filled in for a freshman/sophomore English teacher. I'm relieved to see that they are still teaching Shakespeare. I thought maybe they had thrown him out with all the other old, dead, white European males. I watched a biography of the Bard five times on Thursday. I think what the kids took away from the video was: "Shakespeare was gay!" I found the fact that he died after a night of overindulging in pickled herring far more interesting.

I've been amazed at some of the attitudes displayed by the students. Maybe I've just been through so much diversity and tolerance training that I thought the entire world had figured out how to behave by now. Several times this week I caught students making fun of other students or saying with a nasty jab "You're so gay!" Even that seems dated to me. I thought it was the favored put-down from several years ago. Of course, it's my job to interfere with that kind of thing, so I do. Usually I can deftly change the subject. Something like: "Hey, did you know that Shakespeare may have died from eating too much pickled herring!" What I mean to say is that I thought these kids, this generation, would have had the same training I've had and be much more open, tolerant, compassionate, etc. Are all kids the same throughout time? Just plain mean? Now, that is a scary thought and I wonder what it says about emotional evolution, if there is such a thing.

One class, I had the dance team in the room. That was interesting. Surreal. Try being held captive with half a dozen teenage girls as they talk about make up and food and guys and then put on the Black-Eyed Peas and do their full-on jumping and jiving routines. When I was in school, we had flag-twirlers, rifle-spinners and baton-throwers. Now, there's a dance team and they're called "Dazzlers." I guess the school is still thinking up ways to keep kids busy and out of trouble.

Back in the real world, we hope to get started on building our house in the next week or two. Ed has been working on his bass boat; a fishing trip is being planned for around Easter. With any luck, Ed and I will take a few days off at Spring Break and check out historic Savannah. I'm searching for a B&B with a price tag that doesn't mean we have to sell valuable family heirlooms in order to stay a few nights. My grandfather is doing well in rehab and may be home next week, none to soon for my grandmother. She lost a third roommate yesterday. I'm not saying that she has anything to do with these women being moved out, but she does prefer having the big double room to herself.

That's all for now.