Football!!!

It's middle school football time!!!

And, instead of cleaning my house, doing more BORING GRAD SCHOOL CRAP, or grading papers, I headed out to watch three hours of middle school foorball. This is time well-spent.

I learned really fast that going to my students' extra-curricular events pays off big time. Sure, the house doesn't get cleaned and there probably a zillion other things I could be doing, but it means a lot to my kids to see their teacher there. There's about 5-6 of us who are there at nearly every game and the kids know it. You'll hear them talk about it in the hallway, they'll ask you about it before class starts, and on Fridays they'll remind you about what time the game starts and what number jersey they're wearing. Considering that a lot of parents can't make it due to jobs or deployments or whatever, having your teacher there is, well, kind of cool.

And I'll be honest...it's really amusing entertainment. For one thing, the size disparities between middle schoolers is mind-blowing. You'll see a kid out on the field that you could swear should be a senior in high school based on his size, then a little squirt that looks like he should be playing with a Tonka Truck, rather than getting chased by big guys across the gridiron. Most of these boys have the skinniest legs you've ever seen and you put them in football pants, with pads, and they look like top-heavy chickens.

Our chickens, however, did fairly well. The JV lost 12 - 6, but at least they scored a touchdown. The Varsity won 36-6 and it was a pretty exciting game.

As for the cheerleaders...well, the varsity did great. There were an amazing 28 of them, 12 of whom I've taught in the past. The JV....well, they need some work. Actually they need a lot of work. Their coach, one of my mothers, informed me that they were the most untalented group of children she'd ever worked with in twelve years of cheer coaching. Their hearts are in the right place, though. This week they managed to smile and actually knew all the words which was great.

I actually had two parents come up and thank me for coming to the game which is a first. One parent of a cheerleader said that "K was so excited when she saw you up in the stands. It's so wonderful you come out and support the kids."

Well, heck, there's nowhere else I'd rather be on a Saturday afternoon!