Stephanie went back to school last Monday. Vincent (pictured in the black T-shirt with the red backpack going into Brown School on the first day of school above) started school Tuesday, and student started at Stephanie's school Wednesday. I hung out a lot at Vincent's school the first week. In the process of trying to help prepare for another school Parent-Teacher-Student Association Walkathon/potluck (which is today) I got to talk with all of Vincent's teachers (click on his schedule below to enlarge it.) He wound up in two classes after my own heart: sociology and journalism. He hasn't figured out how to get in Theater, which would have been his only class withe his favorite teacher and would have bled into the Ten-Minute Plays, which he is slated to help lead this winter at school. I believe he's taking three Advanced Placement classes (Senior English, Environmental Science, and Psychology) and one (potentially) college-credit class (Sociology). We' got word Friday that he's starting out with a bad grade in math, and we're following up on math. Vincent is not taking the Senior Seminar that is supposed to help students complete their Senior projects. Apparently, Vincent's Senior project is still evolving, although it continues to involve him volunteering 1-2 hours (now on Saturday afternoon) at the St. Matthews library each week. We're still working on finding out more about it. Since some students dragged their projects out last year until late spring - if they did them at all - and some seemed to personal- or school-focused, the teaches pushed students to complete their projects by December and have a community focus (hence the volunteering - one of the librarians Vincent signed up as a mentor) - We'll see how the December works out (it's a good idea, but it already sounds like they're not enforcing it).
Vincent was away lots of the summer, and he came back - from Denmark, Montreat, and Ohio - itching for more independence. He and I have clashed a lot over a number of things: bed time, language, wardrobe/fashion, doing things with us, and his general wish to replicate his recollection of what he did in Denmark (or maybe more what some of the Danish kids do here): wander from end of school until as late at night as possible, visiting friends and their family - and in general to act as if he's an exchange student here, he doesn't have really have any school work, and he's not living with his family. The school problem he's just encountered may help bring this back to earth. But, in the interim, it's been difficult. This past Saturday morning we had a de facto family weekend, in which we both compromised as some things (at least for now - for the first time since Vincent moved to Florida with his Mom, his bed time is 9:30 instead of 9 - at least until he gets sick). Vincent of course still tried to renegotiate things as we go along. Some of this has meant some family conflict along other lines also. It's going to be an interesing year. Of course, one of my fears is that Vincent may wind up at home (despite him saying he'll move out ASAP) without a job, not in school, and being as obnoxious as ever (in which case Stephanie and I may have different ideas about how to proceed). He has managed to orchestrate some things at school/for his project on hisi own. But I still fear he/we will end up running out of money for college in part if he tries to go back to Denmark next summer, or he'll flunk out after a semester at Western Kentucky or wherever.
Stephanie continues to struggle at school as a result of the Information Technology folks having erased everything on her hard drive. Late last week an IT staff person stopped to try to fix her computer and still acted ignorant about how it could have happened. (No one ever takes any responsibility for this sort of thing). Stephanie first had students come to her classroom this Tuesday. She's also scheduled a slot where - instead of "pulling out" students to go to her classroom, she is "pulled in" to help out in their regular classrooms. This week there was a little extra excitement besides first getting students: she and her colleagues worked with a very troubled young student with continued family problems, and she and her English as a New Language colleagues from around the school district went to a state ENL training (which turned out not to be very relevant to most of them) in Indianapolis. These trips to Indianapolis (or sometimes to Bloomington) always involve getting up very early (in this case, 4 a.m.) to make it on a van at 6 a.m., and now Stephanie has a sore throat (which may jeopardize her painting the living room trim - her intended activity this weekend). She did get to eat at a Jimmy Buffet/Florida-themed Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant from her district colleagues in suburban Indy on the way home.
Pray for Vincent and us and for Stephanie's troubled young student and her family.
P.S. I finished up the second and final week of presbytery phone focus groups for work at the office and the church office during the first the week of school (so I missed lots of the Olympics that week, working at night). Our contractor Sheila is working on summarizing that (and I must draft a survey from it). This past couple of weeks I've also been preparing for the Walkathon and an Environmental Justice fair at church tomorrow morning (and I still have lots to do to get ready for that).
--- Perry
Vincent was away lots of the summer, and he came back - from Denmark, Montreat, and Ohio - itching for more independence. He and I have clashed a lot over a number of things: bed time, language, wardrobe/fashion, doing things with us, and his general wish to replicate his recollection of what he did in Denmark (or maybe more what some of the Danish kids do here): wander from end of school until as late at night as possible, visiting friends and their family - and in general to act as if he's an exchange student here, he doesn't have really have any school work, and he's not living with his family. The school problem he's just encountered may help bring this back to earth. But, in the interim, it's been difficult. This past Saturday morning we had a de facto family weekend, in which we both compromised as some things (at least for now - for the first time since Vincent moved to Florida with his Mom, his bed time is 9:30 instead of 9 - at least until he gets sick). Vincent of course still tried to renegotiate things as we go along. Some of this has meant some family conflict along other lines also. It's going to be an interesing year. Of course, one of my fears is that Vincent may wind up at home (despite him saying he'll move out ASAP) without a job, not in school, and being as obnoxious as ever (in which case Stephanie and I may have different ideas about how to proceed). He has managed to orchestrate some things at school/for his project on hisi own. But I still fear he/we will end up running out of money for college in part if he tries to go back to Denmark next summer, or he'll flunk out after a semester at Western Kentucky or wherever.
Stephanie continues to struggle at school as a result of the Information Technology folks having erased everything on her hard drive. Late last week an IT staff person stopped to try to fix her computer and still acted ignorant about how it could have happened. (No one ever takes any responsibility for this sort of thing). Stephanie first had students come to her classroom this Tuesday. She's also scheduled a slot where - instead of "pulling out" students to go to her classroom, she is "pulled in" to help out in their regular classrooms. This week there was a little extra excitement besides first getting students: she and her colleagues worked with a very troubled young student with continued family problems, and she and her English as a New Language colleagues from around the school district went to a state ENL training (which turned out not to be very relevant to most of them) in Indianapolis. These trips to Indianapolis (or sometimes to Bloomington) always involve getting up very early (in this case, 4 a.m.) to make it on a van at 6 a.m., and now Stephanie has a sore throat (which may jeopardize her painting the living room trim - her intended activity this weekend). She did get to eat at a Jimmy Buffet/Florida-themed Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant from her district colleagues in suburban Indy on the way home.
Pray for Vincent and us and for Stephanie's troubled young student and her family.
P.S. I finished up the second and final week of presbytery phone focus groups for work at the office and the church office during the first the week of school (so I missed lots of the Olympics that week, working at night). Our contractor Sheila is working on summarizing that (and I must draft a survey from it). This past couple of weeks I've also been preparing for the Walkathon and an Environmental Justice fair at church tomorrow morning (and I still have lots to do to get ready for that).
--- Perry
1 comment:
My nephew/godson Jacob started school this week. After being "held back" from kindergarten, he's caught up with his agemates by skipping 2nd grade, going straight from 1st to 3rd grade. Jacob was apparently nervous earlier this summer about the shift, fearing 3rd grade might be too hard for him. But apparently things are OK - he reads at a 5th or 6th grade reading level - and the task of making new friends may be a tad more formidable than school work. Let's pray for Jacob, his parents, and his teachers. Perry
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