Survived Prom

Prom was nice.

The kids had a great time.

I enjoyed watching them dance--some of them can really DANCE!

(Some of those dances though...visually, they appear to be an orgy in which the people were so eager to get started that they neglected to remove their clothing.)

I was very proud of my homeroom. Of the twelve of them, ten showed up last night. :) My babies!

It is traditional to pull the seniors up to the front and honor them toward the end of the evening. My Amanda and my Lyndsey graduate this year. It is going to be very hard to let them go--they have been with me since the beginning--especially Lyndsey!

So, I started off with, "It's going to be so hard to let these girls go. They are the heart and soul of my homeroom....*squeak*...I'm--*sniffle* --really gonna--*whimper* miss you girls--*WAH!*"

At the *squeak,* Lyndsey said, "Oh, no!" and started to tear up.

"OoooooH!" said Amanda and put her arms around both me and Lyndsey. So we made a little triad in the middle of the floor, all three of us going Boo-Hoo-Hoo.

I am SUCH a baby.

Later, when Jay was doing his homeroom, Jay (my boss, whom I worship) said, "Well, I WAS going to cry, but CHERYL already did THAT." Heh heh heh. He cracks me up.

Now all I have to do is survive R.O.C. Jam, and the rest of the year will be easy. WEll--we do have the all-school picnic (a day in Chester Woods)and graduation (I don't think I have to speak this year), but once the snowball has begun its descent down the hill, it picks up speed and just GOES.

Graduation will be a killer. We'll all be in tears.

I'm so proud to be a part of R.O.C.--last night, the seniors passed the microphone around after the homeroom teachers got down giving their little comments and EVERY SINGLE ONE of those kids thanked the teachers for being their for them, and pushing them, and helping them to make it through.

Angie, one of my sweet punkins (though not in my homeroom), said, "If it wasn't for you guys [teachers], I wouldn't be walking across any stage." (Meaning she would not have graduated.)

Of all the things they've learned at R.O.C., the two things I hope they remember are "Never, Never, EVER give up," and "The most important thing you can give another person is a CHANCE."

When kids come to R.O.C., one of the first things they learn is that you leave your past at the door when you walk in. It is a 100% fresh start--no strings attached. Who you are once you come in that door is entirely up to you.

There are so many kids who just can't believe it to begin with, and they are kinda defensive and suspicious--but in a
very short time, they relax, smile, and realize, "Holy shit. People really DO care about me here."

My biggest success story this year was Michelle M. She was a yapper when she first came, and I was constantly on her to be quiet when I was talking. She thought I hated her--she cried about twice a week and told Jesse (her homeroom teacher) that I hated her almost daily. I don't know what tripped the toggle--but she is now a PERFECT student. In fact, when William L. and T.C. were begin dicks in class on Wednesday, and took an attitude with me, she burst in with, "Why don't you guys just SHUT UP and do your WORK." Heheheheeheh

What a punkin!

Well, I have to go. I didn't intend to take a bath this morning, but since I could SMELL myself, I thought it best to apply soap and water liberally.

More information to follow.

Another Landmark for the Year Achieved.

R.O.C. Jam is done...and it was a fine day.

I didn't get to see much of what was going on in the other teachers' events except for the Fear Factor competition. I was too busy administrating my OWN events. I made a six part event, but we were unable to do all of them because it was just too chaotic--too many things all going on at once. We did the footprint relay, which the kids loved. (I had them in teams. The first person in line traced first the left foot then the right foot's heel was at the toe of the first foot and it was traced. Then The first person handed the second person the chalk and the second person traced the feet of the third person in the same way. They had three minutes to trace each other's feet in that way before the next group went. The group that got the farthest in three minutes was the winner!

They had a great time doing it.

The next event was like Scattergories. I had several categories (Boy's Name, U.S. City, Admirable Trait, Candy, Girl's Name, and Flower). I had several letters listed down the left hand column which indicated what letter they were supposed to have in those caegories. I scored it like scattergories. Each answer was worth a point--duplicates were crossed off. They got right to business on that one too.

After that we should have had the ameba race, but instead we went straight to the rollie-chair slalom. They had to sit on a chair with wheels and weave inbetween a line of stationary chairs. When they got to the end, they had to collect a stone from Gloria who was sitting at the end of the line. They had to go around her, then back down the slalom line again.

AFter that, I had a "Faculty Trivia Game--I collected all kinds of trivial information about faculty members at the prom last night--then I typed it up and put it on a sheet for them to figure out. I actually gave them about 10 minutes to do that, though I said they'd get five.

Then we had a tie between the Pink team (which kept calling themselves "The Bearded Clams"--as if they think I have never heard THAT before) and he blues. The blues, composed of Andrew S. Sarah and Ashley N. got kinda pissy because they cannot take the ribbing that Amanda and company like to dish out. I tried to tell them it is just kidding--they are only playing with them, but the WANT to take offense, and so they do.

Sigh

I don't have much patience for drama, so I told everyone to be respectful of each other and then ignored it all.

So it was a lovely time for me! The kids liked what I made for them, and that makes me VERY happy.

FEAR FACTOR was disgusing as it is every year. I'll talk more about that later, but right now, I HAVE to lie down and have a nap or I shall surely DIE.

Caio.