Thoughts & Feelings

Life is interesting at times.

This morning our school is in a "Lock Down," which means that all the doors are closed, all the kids are in the classrooms, and no one can go out until the Lock Down is lifted. I snuck out to go pee, and saw that what they are actually doing is a class by class search of rooms and lockers and kids. They have a drug- and explosives-sniffing dog running through the rooms and along the lockers. They tell the kids to admit to whether they are in possession of anything illegal, because the dog willact if it smells anything on them.

I know this because they pulled the same thing last year in my classroom (I have no students first hour, so they don't feel the need to look in my room this time). My kids were lined up along the wall and made to empty pockets. Any contraband was confiscated (in the case of my kids that year, one was found with quite a bit of gang paraphenalia in his pockets). The dog then ran down the line of lockers, stopped at one of them, and started pawing at it. Officers opened it and found a baggie (empty) in it. They bagged the baggie and took note of the locker number so they could learn who had been assigned it. The gang boy was escorted off to one side, told his parent/guardian would be notified, and then allowed to return to class.

Another problem we've had recently even made the local paper. Apparently a couple of students brought a cat to school; strangled it, stabbed it, and threw it around the hallway. When it was removed and put in a dumpster, they got it out and returned it to the hallway. The assistant principal called in the cops and suspended the kids for the maximum number of days (10), but the parents went to the school board and the principal allowed them back on campus after only 5 days. The assistant principal refused to sign a paper agreeing to this, and the principal allegedly told her she should resign. Since she's still at work, I assume she hasn't resigned. The principal also made a statement denying the whole incident. Ugly business, no matter how you look at it.

I also learned yesterday that a former student of mine, who was a graduate two years ago (I think) committed suicide by hanging himself. His mother is one of the secretaries in the front office, and she was not at work yesterday. I was stunned, because he didn't seem to be the suicidal type. I guess you really never do know for sure.

Anyway, today is stressful, so I think I'll play with more quizzes....

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