The Big Payoff

Earlier this week, Mrs. Eagle and I engaged in one of our favorite rituals signifying the ending of one school year and the beginning of summer.

We went to the local High School and saw a lot of our former students graduate.

Both of us had actually received graduation announcements from former students which just blows my mind. Kids often remember the teachers that made a difference in high school, but there aren't many that reflect way back on their past and recall a middle school teacher. Especially seventh grade teachers...I think seventh grade is such a rough year for most kids that then tend to blank it out (I did). But we got those invitations and that was even more motivation to go see our kids graduate.

Several things really stood out for me.

One, I was amazed (and relieved) that some of the kids I had who just really struggled during seventh grade were graduating from high school with honors. It goes to show that often times a kid can pull it together after falling completely apart in seventh grade.

Second, the best part of the ceremony had to be when one of the graduates, who had been in a severe accident a few years ago, nearly died, and who has undergone a lot of rehabilitation, received his diploma. One of his teachers wheeled him up in his wheelchair, and then he pushed himself up, stood, took two steps, and received his diploma. That young man got a standing ovation from everyone in that auditorium and he deserved it. He's undergone a lot in his young life, but he's managed to do something many kids don't even try to do - he graduated.

Third, and this is the old lady witch coming out in me, I wish people understood the dignity of a graduation ceremony and dressed the part. I swear I saw more inappropriate clothing on parents (sagging pants, boobs falling out of tops, short shorts, you name it) than I see at one of my rare trips to the mall. Come on people, your kid is graduating, so stop looking like a hooker for once and act like a parent! (Mrs. Eagle and I spent a lot of our time rolling our eyes at each other as some of these fashion disasters paraded by.)

But on the whole, it was a wonderful experience to see these kids make it to graduation. They were a nice group of kids when I had them all those years ago, and I wish them the best in their future.

And it's just kinda neat that I may have had a small role to play in their success.

A Parent Crawls Out of the Woodwork

It is amazing what can get a parent to sit up and actually pay attention.

As a team, we have been trying to get Sassy Girl's mother in for a meeting since September. We have scheduled two meetings, where she was a no-show. She received a personal invitation to our second night of conferences and was again a no-show. She has never returned a phone call, and it's a miracle of nature if she actually picks up the phone when you call. She's received three copies of the letter that went out at the end of the first semester indicating that Sassy Girl was - surprise, surprise - failing all five of her academic classes. She never signed and returned the letter. In short, when it comes to parenting, she's missing in action.

So, the other day, when Sassy Girl got mouthy in Mrs. Language's class it was apparently having to do with a disagreement over a dress code violation. Sassy Girl was showing a bit too much cleavage and Ms. Language told her to go to guidance and get something else to wear. At this point Ms. Language was being nice and giving Sassy Girl a chance to avoid a discipline referral by changing her top. Sassy Girl didn't see it that way and she got really sassy and the long and short of it was she ended up in In School Suspension (insert Happy Dance here) for three days.

Well.

We finally heard from Sassy Girl's Mom. She took offense at the fact that her daughter who "was not dressed bad", got in trouble because of a dress code violation. (Well, actually it was her reaction to the dress code violation and her mouth that got her in trouble, but I digress.) She wrote a note on the back of the referral that basically said that we had no business telling her daughter that she was violating dress code.

Eight months we've been trying to get this parent engaged. Eight months. We've been trying to get her to communicate with us about failing grades (and I mean free-fall failing grades) and her daughter's horrid behavior (which is why she has the failing grades - she's perfectly capable should be be so moved to actually try). Not a word. She's ignored us, stood us up, basically disappeared. God forbid she actually talks to us about something that will impact her daughter's life forever.

But oh, Lordy, how dare we say her daughter is flashing her boobs!!! Now that's cause to get pissed.

Good gracious. I hope I have halfway normal parents next year.