Class Act

Posted on August 15, 2015 under Storytelling with one comment

School daze

 

 

“See you in September,

See you when the summer’s through …”

See You in September – The Happenings

The first “Back to School” flyer sets your stomach churning.

It’s not even the end of July and already the big chain stores are out with all guns a blazing as school looms on the horizon, a scant five weeks away. If you are a seven year old, this scarcely registers on your radar screen as your endless summer moves languidly along. If you are a parent, the mere thought of preparing lunches again is enough to make you reach for a second (or third!) glass of wine.

If you are a teacher, you have barely deprogrammed yourself from yet another hectic school year when the fall term appears on the horizon like a funnel cloud.

Marilla (not her real name) was pondering the academic year ahead. It was both exciting and a bit nerve wracking, having accepted a posting at a new elementary school. Even though she was a veteran teacher, the prospects of a new school and a new administration always presented an element of doubt.

An accident at the roundabout on the first day of the new term was an ominous sign. Traffic was backed up in every direction. She arrived at the school with barely a minute to spare. She said cursory hellos to her colleagues as she hurried down the hall. She turned the corner and approached her classroom.

Bedlam.

Class sizes are always an issue with teachers. With rationalization, consolidation and school closures, more students are being added to already large classes.

As she entered the classroom, she couldn`t count the number of students but it was well beyond the twenty that she had been promised. Yes, there were indeed 20 desks but there appeared to be in excess of thirty small human beings. What was worse, far worse, was the fact that most, if not all, of the children’s anxious and overzealous parents were pacing in the classroom at this very minute …. and vying for her undivided attention

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she also noticed that the desks were full of garbage … last year`s garbage. Rotten orange peels and half-eaten, moldy sandwiches were everywhere. Congealed pudding and juice festered underfoot. Total chaos.

Marilla quickly sized up the situation. She had once thought about becoming a stand-up comedian and decided on the spot that this was a good time for a career change. She thought about trying out a few jokes on the throng in front of her, a group that now included the principal who had heard the din emanating from her classroom. Prudently she decided not to burn any bridges.

She grabbed her purse and lunch bag and raced for the exits. She could smell freedom in the air until she realized that her car keys were still on the desk. She hastened back into the school and made one last surreptitious trip down the hallway.

The throng that she had left in her wake a few minutes earlier was still gyrating as it swiftly encircled her, refusing her safe passage to the parking lot. The menacing crowd moved closer and closer and the uproar louder and more intense.   She was trapped and could see no way out …

Boom!

Beads of sweat were glistening on Marilla’s forehead … as she awoke to the sound of rolling thunder. She glanced at the calendar on the bedroom wall and saw that it was only August 1^st.

As she sipped her morning coffee her mail dropped through the slot in her front door. Although three full months away, the first Halloween flyer lay on the floor, a grinning skeleton taunting her. And there were several brochures from politicians, trying to secure her vote in the upcoming federal election.

Perhaps the nightmares were just beginning.