My first day back in the classroom

Today was my first day back at the high school. I subbed for the theater department. Both the tech crew and the teacher were wonderful. I filled in for half a day.

One of the performing arts crew members, Mr Kline, proudly told me that his students have won many awards over the 30 years he's been with the district. "My students have been to China, in Europe, at Disneyworld..." The students called him "Coach."

The students were well behaved. Some recognized me from last year. "I like you!" "You're cool!" and a few other accolades came my way, although I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. The students were self-driven and worked on their tasks., whether it was setting up a stage or performing their lines. The first performance for the school acting club is next week.

I was rewarded in the end by watching the performance crew do a few improvisational skits during the last hour. Some of the acting was quite good. A few of the students stood out as creative artists, wearing ties with t-shirts and French caps.

I got to meet Mike again, and saw a few other familiar faces, but during lunch I ate alone and then hurried back to the theater room.

Mike and I briefly chatted about our summer break. He was recently in Mexico filming a nature film when he was surrounded by Mexican police holding automatic weapons toward his face. "That was the first time my legs shuck. That place (Mexico) has gotten weird" he added. Luckily he was able to find out that 11 people had been kidnapped and found hatcheted to death on the road he was held up. With his good Spanish he was able to convince the cops that he was not a drug runner. When Mike says that Mexico has gotten bad, then it's gotten bad!

A few changes were made over the summer with teachers' work schedules. Many no longer get a planning period and are expected to fill in for co-workers who have doctor appointments. (This saves on hiring subs for half-days) The school now hosts early Friday prayer meetings for the staff to "get us through these rough times." Teachers are still talking about the budget cut and more layoffs.