An Offer I Can't Refuse

For the next year (2008-2009) my school needs a lot more Algebra 1 teachers. There so desperate that they've offered to pay the current teachers a bonus to take on an additional class. That would mean teaching four classes instead of three and not having a scheduled professional period for planning and grading.

On the one hand, I have a baby coming this summer and would love to be able to help out and play with him or her as much as possible. On the other hand, I have a baby coming this summer and would love to be able to clothe and shelter him or her.

Add in that Monkey-Girl will be in her senior year and she and I will both be traveling to interview for new jobs. Now factor in the added costs of childcare.

We've got some thinking and praying to do. (Help!)

All Clear

That's what the friendly river guide is telling us.

I'm writing this now as not to worry anyone. The student body and extended community were fairly wound up this week as a rumor was circulating that there would be lethal violence at my school on Friday. For the record: NOTHING BAD HAPPENED.

A text message rapidly made the rounds stating something suspiciously vague about a shooting scheduled for the lunch room. "No one knows who and no one knows what (sic.) lunch." The conclusion of the message urged people to forward it to, "everyone you care about."

An investigation was launched. A cause was found. Findings were disclosed. Precautions were taken. Safety was ensured. Rumors escalated. The process repeated. Half (no exaggeration) of the students were no-shows.

I believe there were several causes of this. Spring time is when teenagers go a little more insane than normal. What better way to feel important than to be a part of something involving life and death? People in general LOVE rumors. If it's about a faceless institution, it's that much better. Teenagers also love getting off of school.

I mentioned precautions. Doors were kept closed and locked during class time. An adult was stationed at every hallway intersection throughout the day. 15 armed police officers were in the cafeteria during all lunch periods and were fairly conspicuous the rest of the day. The principal encouraged worried parents to pick students up and take them out to lunch.

Monkey-Girl, who made a rare off-mountain appearance, heard many escalations of the rumors from community people. We agree that this sort of thing makes people feel important in a very sick way. We've all been guilty of it. I'm not going to point fingers.

With most of my class absent, I had my students doing make-up work all day. I got a lot of paper work done. It rained all day.

All in all, Friday was terribly long and boring.