Ag School?

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

Always the eternal optimist, a few OBX observations:

10. Bummed that I had to work an extra week this year. Blame the Snowpocalypse!

9. Pleased that the School Board decided to give us back one day (one lousy day!), so that my vay-cay didn't have to start the same day as the annual Teacher Scavenger Hunt.

8. Upset (a tad) to learn that the Annoying New Teacher (and no, I haven't penned a missive about her~yet) acquired the room next to mine. Don't care for obnoxious wannabes crowding the sacred environs of Room 215, now, do we?

7. Chuckled to overhear this convo in the checkout line the other nite:

Mom #1: "So, we thought about taking the kids out of school a week early this year."
Mom #2: "I know. Wasn't it obnoxious for the School Board to extend the year like that?"
Mom #1: "Well, it was either that, or take away part of Spring Break and add 15 minutes to the school day. We already had tickets to Disney World, and Junior has soccer right after school. We didn't want to cut into that time."
Mom #2: "Did you hear that the School Board is freezing teachers' pay for the 2nd straight year? You'd think they'd learn how to get the budget under control."
Mom #1: Come to think of it, I wonder how much it cost the school system to run those buses & serve those lunches during the extra week?"
Mom #2: Especially since all most students were doing was watching the World Cup during that last week."

6. My point, exactly! One of my colleagues actually had his class watch the World Cup in lieu of a final exam. Well, I've done something similar in years past, but never on a final exam day!

5. Happy that the auto repair process went smoothly yesterday morning. Big Blue should be back & kickin' in about a week or so.

4. Thrilled that Enterprise actually picked me up this time (remember the Chicago Debacle of last summer?) & I was on my way back to the beach in less time than it takes to say "Cadillac SRX."

3. Thought about my nephew when Enterprise put me in a Caddy. He's gonna want to drive that sucker & I'ma gonna have to tell him "No way, José!"

2. Frustrated by all the bells & whistles on high-end vehicles these days. Keyless entry, keyless start. Lots of digital reminders for this, that & the other. I know that after a week or so, my modest little Big Blue is gonna be looking mighty fine to moi!

1. Cackled when I called OnStar by mistake while adjusting the rear-view mirror. Then stalled out the Caddy & spent 5 minutes in a convenience store parking lot a) trying to cancel my OnStar call and b) trying to remember how to start the dern car again. Failure to figure out how to engage the engine of a luxury vehicle doesn't qualify as a genuine emergency, correctamundo?

Crash Course

Unfortunately, when I should be out enjoying this today...

I'll be traveling inland to deal with this...

Had a mishap of the automobile variety on my way to The OBX Friday afternoon. In heavy Interstate traffic near Williamsburg, the old lady in the Honda CRV in front of me slammed on her brakes. And I, natch, slammed into her. I was traveling at a safe distance, I promise! But poor Big Blue.

Fortunately, I've never been responsible for a wreck, so looks like the insurance folks are going to cover all but the deductible, and throw in a rent car, too. Now, here's hoping that the little shop I'm visiting with my '02 Camry this morning is close enough to the Big City to get the requisite parts. Looks like we're talking bumper, headlight, hood and front left fender.

The good news, however, is that I've enjoyed surf & sand all weekend. Hot as hell, but it's not Our Humble High School!

OBX Sentinel

I have to tell you, it's been a hectic few weeks getting here, but in a few hours I'm anticipating a seat on the deck overlooking the ocean, a glass of wine & perhaps a visit from my little friend the seagull.

Thanks to all who entered my modest little giveaway. Today's winner is Cheryl, of Deckside Thoughts. She's a New England coastie, so she understands the lure of the surf. Congrats to you, Cheryl. And Happy Summer to everyone who's tuning in to The Scholastic Scribe today.

I'm finally there...

All's Quiet on the Western Front

I'm riffing on Prompt #2 from Mama Kat today: Write a poem about a picture.

And don't forget my Target Gift Card Giveaway!

'twas the last day of school and
all thru the halls
fairly few cherubs were stirring~
we wouldn't see them 'til Fall

Most students were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of pool-time danced in their heads
And I in my classroom, still packing up crap
had just settled my thoughts on a long Summer’s nap

When on out in the lot there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The sun on the lot where once there had been snow
Gave the lustre of desert to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a horde full of cherubs, with eyes oh, so clear.

They screamed and they cackled, with voices so quick
I knew in a moment it wasn't St Nick.
More rapid than eagles down the hall they came,
And they whistled, and shouted, and called me by name

"Now, Mrs. Scribe! Our teacher! Our parents so lame,
have sent us today because we need to claim
our grades for the year, now please don't be too slow,
for we have things to do, and get ready to go!"

I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
doling out A's, and some B's & a D to one jerk.
Some giggled and thanked me with bounty quite nice;
I'll be using those Starbucks cards in more than a trice.

I turned on my screen, to read them their grades
(In the electronic era, so many technological aids
And I heard them exclaim, as they drove out of sight,
"Have a great one, y'all, and to all a good night! "

With apologies to Clement Moore, who penned the original in 1823.

Conference Call

BTW, please don't forget my Target Gift Card Giveaway!

Designer Bags and Current Events

Don't forget Mrs. Scribe's Target Gift Card Giveaway! Click here for more details...

While wrapping things up for the school year, I'm often at that odd juncture where I'm looking forward & backward at the same moment in time.

The seniors graduated last week. As part of their "sendoff," I gave them bound copies of the newspapers they produced during the school year. They, in turn, gifted me with the most unusual keepsake.

The bag above is made out of some of this year's student-produced papers. My cherubs collected some gems, then sent them off to a company that puts these things together. The bag, about the size of one of those cloth shopping bags that one hauls along to the grocery store, is equipped with sturdy shoulder straps. And for those of you who wonder what would happen if Mrs. Scribe were to get caught in the rain, the newspaper is laminated, so not so readily recyclable.

I, of course, am always looking for tschotskes to add to my collection. I gifted my own self this week with an item that is both unusual & handy.

The orange-ish horn sitting on the table next to my designer bag is a South African Vuvuzela. Those annoying stadium horns that form the soundtrack of this year's World Cup are actually long, plastic trumpet gizmos. I don't know a single teacher at Our Humble High School who owns one. Of course, my Vuvuzela was made in China, are are, apparently, 90 percent of the ones we hear buzzing on the telly during each football match.

Can't wait to face a classroom of 40+ journalistas next year. Budget cuts be damned...I'll show 'em how to manage a crowded classroom! Quite the attention-getter, correctamundo?

Summer School

Gosh, 2 kitty-cat posts in a row. Could this mean that summer is only 3 days away?

Meet Piper & Marlowe. They belong to my frind Nance, she of The Dept. of Nance & The Brian Williams Tie Report Archives. For more info on why a high school English teacher in NE Ohio would care one iota about the NBC Anchor's neckware, you'll need to check out my explanation. I found Nance thru an article in my local news rag.

Anywho, back to the matter at hand. I recently received the sweetest bit o' cyber-correspondence from Nance the other day.

"Just wanted you to know that your Target gift card was well used," said Nance, ever the gracious winner. You see, she won my most recent Target Gift Card Giveaway, held in honor of my 2nd Blogoversary. And she waited, lo these 3 months, to use her bling in the best possible way.

"Over the long holiday weekend, I finally gave in and adopted two new kittens to replace our family pets that we had to have put down a few years ago," Nancy said. "I missed the cats, especially TravisCat, terribly--more than I had thought I would--but I agonized over getting another one (or two) this close to my retirement and our eventual move."

But, wait...there's more cuteness involved here: "Anyway--we used the Target card to get new supplies for the kittens. I've attached a picture. Marlowe is the grey fluffy one, and her brother (really--they were littermates) is Piper. They not only look completely different, their personalities are also polar opposites. She is a terror: bouncy, mischievous, fearless. He has been ill; he got a post-op bout of pneumonia due to stress from neutering, so he's been quiet and timid and very lovey-dovey. But he's been getting better and more curious and adventurous."

And, every the proper English teacher, Nance's concluding paragraph is short, to-the-point & packs a punch.

"So, thanks to your prize, they have some nice accoutrements. I've told them "Aunt Melissa" is their benefactress! LOL."

Between y'all & moi, I never thought a proper gal like Nance would employ an acronym like LOL, but that's entirely beside the point.

And the point of this post, besides thanking Nance for her "thank you," is to announce another Target Gift Card Giveaway. No, you don't have to bend over backwards, you don't have to jump thru any hoops. You just have to tell me, in the comments section of this post, how you think I should spend my Summer Vacation, which commences at approximately noon on Thursday.

Contest closes Thursday, June 24, at 11:59 p.m., EST. I'll pick the winner via some Random Generator thingy & will post felicidades on Friday morning.

Thanks, Nance! And thanks to all of y'all who enjoy cyber-scribbling.

Cosmo Girl

With only 3 real school days left after today, Pepper the Cat & I are collecting our beach reading materials early. Want to make sure to have the latest, greatest, trashiest & trendiest for my trek to The OBX.

Next Thursday, our "official" last day, will be a totally worthless exercise. A smattering of kiddos~mostly froshies~will traipse thru the halls of Our Humble High School, ostensibly to acquire their grades, but really just to socialize & say goodbye for the Summer.

Then we teachers begin the idiotic process of "checking out." Really a form of a scavenger hunt, although involving signatures, but no real prizes. That is unless one considers being relieved of duty for a couple of months a form of compensation. More of a gift, I'd say.

I've got a packet with many instructions that don't say much. Included is a list of names. On Thursday, I will dutifully dash from person to person, as a colorful line of John Hancocks snakes down the page. Textbooks accounted for? Check. Tech equipment turned in and/or stowed? Check. Flag rolled up and put away? Check-a-rooni! Wouldn't want Old Glory to suffer a Summer mishap.

Then we'll all tromp off to the library to have Principal Man certify that we are free. As my Nana would say, "Thank God for small mercies."

Popular Science

I'm responding today to Mama Kat's Prompt #1: The Popular Girls.

Karma kicked some serious booty last weekend.

You see, Our Humble High School held its Prom on Friday. A rite of passage, a nest of hormones, a testament to some that these 4 years comprised the "best days of our lives," but which caused others to utter, "Thank the Good Lord I'm moving on."

Our senior class decided to shake things up a bit this year. The kids took a trip~down Memory Lane, for some & to a re-run of "Mean Girls" for others~and decided to elect a Prom king & queen. This antiquated tradition had been in mothballs for some time, so members of the Class of 2010 wanted to give "the old ways" some airing.

Actually, what I think they really wished to accomplish was to take a reading on that good ol' Popularity Barometer.

As I've said in this space before, the so-called "popularity" of one high school cherub over another is merely a measure of that first child's confidence. Then the others just resort to following the Popular Kid around and basking in the glow of being cool by association.

Well, the PKs of Our Humble High School knew for a fact that they had the lock on this Prom royalty janx. I didn't witness this first-hand, but I was told later that one of the nominated couples was seen doing a little personal grooming right before the announcement. Freshening the makeup & the hair gel, as it were.

Most of senior class was quite attentive for the announcement, considering that the results were so obviously a foregone conclusion. Cue the drumroll, please.

Let's just say that a ton of PKs cried in their proverbial punch that nite. Turns out that two of my very own journalistas~smart, witty, and truly Beautiful People~won.

I'm told that my cherubs had undertaken a movement to push the PKs off their self-proclaimed pedestals. When online voting commenced at the dance (yes, even Prom has gone high-tech these days), they actually lobbied for the newspaper kids.

Of course, the best folks won. And quite a few Plastics had to reassess their so-called popularity.

Such is the tenuous grasp some have on reality. The PKs~some of whom had been worshipped & adored since elementary school~were left with only the memories. And no tiara to wear into the future.

The snap above is from my own quasi-confused senior year. Observing high school from the other side of the desk is so much more fun than the first time around.

A Sign of the Times

I moseyed out to the garage the other afternoon when an epiphany grabbed me, right there between the gardening shears & the toolbox.

I do believe I've been overwhelmed by current circumstances.

With 7 days left at Our Humble High School, I'm still knee-deep in yearbooks. I've taken to cajoling~bordering on bribing~my journalistas to finish "just one more assignment," when all they want to do is go to the pool, hang out & sleep. The Kumbaya Effect has set in around Room 215, big-time.

The fact is, no one wants to be here anymore. We're done. Stick a fork in us, why don'tcha?

I absconded with this little ol' sign at the suggestion of Ella Numera Dos. She bade me break the law after I posted another likeness of this visage a couple of weeks ago. Heck, the poor thing's all bent up & dirty, missing a pole. Looked like it needed a home. Plus, the warning takes on a whole new meaning when the last letter is fortuitously blocked by my bucket of gardening tools.

Add to the mix this surreal take, snapped in the late afternoon with my flash on (blocking out all other light, natural & otherwise). You get the picture, correctamundo?

Just how I feel.

Spring Forward

OK, I'm a tad tardy with this snap. Shot in mid-April, I'm thinking, long about when my Bradford Pear was fixin' to bloom. I've been going thru my photo folders all week, doing some Spring cleaning. I don't believe I've ever showcased this massive tree when it's on the imminent edge of blossoming.

This shot seems apropos for a number of reasons.

I turn the page to a new chapter in my life in less than 2 weeks (about time, correctamundo?) & Summer is the season of new growth for yours truly. I'll have one chica home for 3 months; the other will be ducking in and out, since she's actually got a "grownup" job this summer. I'll be able not only to get in touch with myself, but with La Familia Scribe, as well.

I'll have more time to read, to cook, to putter around in the yard. Travel is always one of my priorities during my Summer Solstice. I'm going to clean out my computer files, reorganize my closet. Heck, I've even made some noise about purging the basement of the flotsam & jetsam that's been piling up down there over the years.

On the professional development front, I don't think I'll do too much, school-wise, but I plan to invest in some personal growth activities. I'm in my 3rd year of blogging. I'd like to learn some new tricks, compose some killer posts, snap a few more memorable shots.

And I plan to peruse the close to 800 posts I've written since March 31, 2008. Maybe there's something worthwhile there. Maybe I'll put some of my favorite rants in a collection of some sort. I don't know much about Ebooks, but I could see something from that genre in my future.

Trouble is, I'm not much good at critiquing my own work. And I've never been apt at conjuring catchy titles.

Any thoughts?

Royal Flush

You know about trash

to treasure, don't you? These thrones

needed an upgrade.

OMG!

I guess you can tell I'm excited. Both of my chicas are coming home this week. And who cares about yearbook memories when you can have the real live thing, correctamundo?

An English Department colleague had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago. I visited yesterday, thinking she needed company. I'd also whipped her up a little something special, in honor of the occasion~Aunt Julie's Blueberry Pie, because, well, nobody can doubt the Power of Pie.

Baby Girl Sophie, natch, is the prettiest little thing. Put me in mind of my gals when they were wee ones. And of course, I just had to take a trip down memory lane when I returned home.

The snap above is the result of my recent journey. I'd say Ella Numera Una is close to 4 years old, and Ella Numera Dos just a little slip of a girl. Not quite a year old. Now, I haven't put pixes in scrapbooks since this shot, so I have no way of knowing exact dates.

Baby Sophie made me think I'd like to do this motherhood janx all over again. But only if I could get a couple of gals as great as the ones I already have.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

A high school yearbook is an anachronism; a parody, really, of itself. I guess that's why I'm so drawn to the medium...as a chronicle of the school year just past, as a comment on social mores, as a waystation on the continuum of life.

I was not born to be a yearbook adviser. I'm professionally trained as a journalist, far too cynical to get all mushy about a phenomenon as shallow as a high school "annual," as we used to refer to them down Tejas way. But that very sentiment, in the end, is what has drawn me to the craft of completing our yearly compendium, year after year.

Pictured above, framed by the flotsam & jetsam of The Barney Cabinet in the Journalism Office at Our Humble High School, is this year's book. Entitled ExTENsions, it's elaborately designed to showcase all things 2009-2010...from the bomb threat & evacuation earlier this year, to Prom, which is destined to sprinkle us all with fairy dust this coming Friday.

Well, of course, we couldn't cover Prom in this year's book. That's the nature of the beast. We pretend to capture the entire school year, but the yearbook goes to press in mid-April. Otherwise, our cherubs wouldn't get their book before graduation. And that would be a crime.

I've just completed a feat I never thought I'd brag about. This year's book is my 14th. Starting in 1997, when as the school's Journalism Teacher I inherited this job, to this year, I've tried to guide my journalistas in assembling a book that not only helps to capture the memories, as it were, but that really will matter to many of them, years down the road.

And that's a difficult tight-rope to walk. We put up with Superlatives (Best to Take Home to Parents, Future Picasso, et al), the Beautiful People (I still maintain that "popularity" in high school is only the measure of a child's confidence. So many of them are at such a loss that they glom onto any peer who exudes the slightest hint of knowing what's going on), the Inside Jokes. But we try to print the "real" news, too, so that when these kids are old and grey & popularity doesn't matter anymore, they can still look back and say,

"Hey, I remember that!"

Mark Twain once uttered the words that pretty much sum up what yearbooks~and high school, the second time around~ mean to me.

"Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on earth."

He was a cynical old man, but made some pretty prophetic pronouncements. I wonder if he knew he was speaking to his inner-yearbook?

Reflections in Pink

More Memorial Day reflections. Her dad tried to explain the significance of The Wall. She just wanted to stand there and reflect. I hope she remembers more than the searing heat of a DC Memorial Day...

We are Family

Well, not really, but sometimes our little cul-de-sac of 5 houses feels that way. Remember the Saint Roman Snow Team? Well, this is the summer version. I call this bunch the Saint Roman BBQ Team & we all gathered for a Memorial Day cookout in The Scribe Family's driveway.

We've got all kinds of folks on this squad, which specializes in ribs, briskets, brats, dogs & oodles of sides. From the Russian grandparents to 15-month-old Jackie, we've gone from the 12-foot snow drifts of February to the 90-degree humidity of May & June.

I think we might have set some kind of neighborhood record for this particular gathering. Mrs. Scribe, in case you want to know, is in the back row, 5th from the left.

BTW, my first time over at Shoot Me, a Thursday gathering introduced by my chica, MOO. A good excuse to hog the limelight, correctamundo?

The Wall Remembers

Army Strong

This Rolling Thunder participant has a whole lot to be happy about. She was able to be part of history on Sunday afternoon; she made a statement to her fellow Americans~and to the world~about bringing home our POWs & MIAs. And, hey...she got to ride across the Potomac River on a Hog.

How sweet is that?

Just as sweet is my friend Jeannie, who is an Army wife & a heckuva happy blogger. Probably why she calls her special place on the Internet Jeannie's Happy World. And she started bestowing a very special award this past weekend.

Jeannie's Happiness Award is just that. "This special award will be given to bloggers who truly have happiness in their hearts and pass that on to everyone they meet, and everywhere they go," Jeannie says in her inaugural award post. "They know that happiness is a choice, and always choose wisely. Always looking on the sunny side of life, and keeping their sense of humor, these bloggers are a joy to read!!! So the Queen Bee says to BEE HAPPY!!!"

Well, the Queen Bee selected 5 initial awardees & guess who was included? All I can say right now, besides "Thanks!" is that your happiness has rained down at just the right time, Jeannie.

'tis the End of the School Year & all that entails. Yearbooks come in today, the Senior Awards Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday & I have 56 personal essays due from my AP cherubs at the end of the week. Oh, for joy!

Thanks, Jeannie! I hereby pass this award along to 5 fellow bloggers, who often give my funny bone a tickle:

Tara R., If Mom Says OK

Tracy P., The Journey

Tracie, Stir-Fry Awesomeness

Allyson, Magnolias & Mimosas

Alicia, It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy

Enjoy, y'all & remember: The glass is always half-full, correctamundo?