Day One Hundred Sixty-Six
Spring Spirit Week ended with a day of shortened classes, fun activities, and a raucous pep rally. The dress-up theme was school colors + gold, so it was fabulous and sparkly. I wore one of my faculty t-shirts that has gold lettering, added some gold hair ribbons and glittery eyeshadow, and threw myself into the fun.
The changed schedule meant I taught my three sections of World in a row (40 minutes each). Students took their last vocabulary quiz in the course, and they pretty much all crushed it (one kid was so surprised by how well he’d done- because he’d actually studied- that he kept telling me how proud his dad was going to be, and that’s adorable). So they left class feeling good about that. And then I had my GOV students. I had them do a quick review assignment on state and local government, and then we took a leisurely stroll out to the parking lot so they could put their backpacks and stuff in their cars before outdoor activities started.
Our first activity was kickball against Mr. N’s class (we lost, but they outnumbered us). After that, we watched some students and staff members get dunked in a dunk tank, and then we got to go out front where a local agency that trains service dogs had some of their demo dogs for students to pet and play with. Longtime readers know I’m allergic to dogs, so I just stood back and took pictures, but my seniors loved that. And then we went to lunch- cookout in the courtyard- and enjoyed burgers, hotdogs, pasta salad, and some amazing watermelon. I’d have had fun doing all that with any of my ninth grade classes, but I’m glad I was with my seniors since they’re graduating soon. It was a fun time to spend with them.
And I got to spend the pep rally with them, too, which was an experience. I usually sit in the freshmen section. The senior section is LOUD, and it’s so much fun. The Principal fired everyone up with a cheering competition between the classes (I think being out on the gym floor during a pep rally might be his favorite part of his job), and then the band played the National Anthem. The seniors decided to sing along, so then everyone was singing along, and it went from there. There were some zany games: a human version of hungry hippos that almost got too heated between the juniors and seniors so they cut it short, a bunch of matches in one of those inflatable jousting things, and the most competitive game of musical chairs ever. I repped the faculty in musical chairs, and was one of the last five standing, but then I got knocked out by one of my freshmen. It was a riot, though. But my favorite part was when our drumline performed because they were really good, and everyone gave them a standing ovation afterwards.
It got a little hectic at the end because the student council didn’t plan enough to fill the block, so kids got restless, but it’s been a while since we could do a pep rally like this (our fall one was out in the stadium, and a bit more subdued, and last year, obviously, covid restrictions kept us from gathering as a school), so it’s live and learn.
I certainly had a fun day!
