Did you know that sophomore is an oxymoron? ‘Sopho’ means wise and ‘moric’ means fool. I was taught that in English class the first week back at school. Things were defiantly changing that year. We had a new high school principal; we will call him Mr. Country. He was round and balding and surprisingly younger than my mom which you probably wouldn’t have guessed if you saw him. I though he at least had to be in his late forties, but later found out he was thirty six. I was open to him coming in at first. I mean I had been burned by a cheating principal before so maybe this guy could turn the place around for the better right?
Classes were harder that year. I didn’t have the teacher I loved and respected so much that year so I was kind of bummed. He was the only teacher that gave us any kind of real outlet to really discuss what we felt and he would rationalize any given situation. Mid day through classes I remember nearly crying at the thought of going a whole year without having a class with ‘Mr. Solomon’. The whole sophomore class missed him as well. We were angry at the ungrateful juniors and seniors who got to have him and the bratty freshmen who claimed that his class was too hard. He wasn’t hard he was just really the only teacher who expected some kind of effort from the athletes of the beloved basketball team.
As you can expect we also got a new math teacher. He was young, in his early twenties, and he was short, maybe 5’5. He had a drill sergeant air about him which, ironically I found out that’s exactly what he used to do. Like most young teachers, he was kind of arrogant. He would assume that we had learned things we didn’t and get frustrated when we didn’t understand. By the first nine weeks half of the class, including myself were getting D’s or F’s. We all had parent/teacher conferences. I had to work my ass off the entire year and barley passed. I remember being seriously depressed about going to that class. The only other class I felt this miserable in was Composition and Research.
We shall call the comp and research teacher Ms. Winy. She was around 28 unmarried and we all knew why. She was incredibly annoying and immature. She would assign us papers and then change her mind. I remember once being told that we were required to do a power point presentation…I didn’t have power point and so I had to go out and buy it. $150 dollars later she changed her mind…thanks bitch. We would spend the class listening to her complaining about her Doc boyfriend (who ended up dumping her) and she would encourage us to give her all the best gossip at our school. If we ended up talking to our friends or not paying attention to her reactions to the school gossip we would be reprimanded. She left my junior year to go teach at a Catholic school. My condolences go out to all those poor students.
That year I also had life skills/speech. I was the only sophomore and had it with four juniors. Three were boys and one was a girl I used to play soccer with. She was dating one of the boys. There currently still together and I wish them all the luck in the world. My art teacher from the previous year was teaching the class and at first I was nervous about being in a class with a bunch of upperclassmen. My fears were soon quelled when I realized how cool they all were. They even gave me a nickname. In life skills we didn’t get much done school wise, but we did talk about school issues. Subtle rule changes were starting to happen. We were no longer ‘allowed’ to go up the back stair way (which was the easiest way to get up to the third floor in the morning). No one abided by this rule because were teenagers. Were lazy and we take short cuts what can I say. Besides no one really understood why we couldn’t use this stair way. It was later speculated in my life skills class with my new buddies that our new principal was afraid that students would make out in the stairwell. It had happened before, but why punish everyone just because a couple of teenagers were being teenagers? Because of our failure to comply with this new rule we were lectured in chapel for a good fifteen minutes. Maybe I’m sounding melodramatic, but it was a series of bizarre rules that frustrated me and a lot of other people to no end. Maybe I’ll post some of the rules from the rule book on a later post and you tell me what you think.
We have a subway and a few other restaurants across the street from our school. Some cross country kids would go there after practice and it was never really a big deal before. Over the intercom one day we were told that we could here by be in trouble if we were caught walking across the street AFTER SCHOOL HOURS! I was aggravated I must admit. At the age of five my parents had taught me proper street crossing procedure. Here is the rule that really got me: we had to ask permission to leave the lunch room to pee. For crying out loud I was fifteen years old! I was pretty sure I could find my way to a bathroom and back!
Back to my favorite and last class of the day though. One day my junior friends and I started to discuss the athletics association. If you’ve ever been to high school you know that the jocks get treated special. If you don’t agree with this statement, that’s because you were either a jock or your just plain stupid. I found out a lot of info that I didn’t know. I knew that some of the basketball players had two study halls, because well they were stupid. I found out that sports that didn’t win state championships like baseball don’t get any funding. The players had to buy their own jerseys while the boy’s basketball team got three pairs of shoes without swiping a credit card. Also there was the whole deal with their annual ‘missionary’ trip. The boys went to Costa Rica where they stayed on the beach or played basketball all day. Nice missionary work boys. To my knowledge the only team that goes on missionary trips is the boys basketball team.
What else is worth mentioning about sophomore year…hum…yes the whole incident with the missing money? People who went to the gym after school or during guy class usually left their things in the locker room. Well money started to disappear. Hundreds of dollars ended up going missing along with some gift cards. Who was the thief you may ask? Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that if the administration did know who it was they would fire that person? Not if that person was a former basketball star and son to the parents of some rich board members. This poor fellow fluked out of college and was on drugs. He wasn’t the first member of our school who had gone to college only to flunk out, but he was the first to come back to the school. Everyone suspected him. One student had even caught him in the act, but there is an old saying ‘it’s who you know.’ He stayed on, but was not in the gym anymore.
On the last week of school I was told that Mr. Country was appointed headmaster and that we would be getting a former reform school principal to be our new high school principal. Fun. Also at the end of the year my friend who had been dating someone I didn’t approve of dumped him and in retaliation he posted a video of himself burning old momentous and telling her that he would see her in hell or something to that effect. I never saw the video. Now why I don’t approve of this, it was done off school time and posted on his MySpace. Was this stupid on his part? Maybe, but again it didn’t in any way mention the school. He was suspended for the remainder of the year for not upholding the schools image or something to that effect. In a way I admire him for not giving away the name of the person video tapping the thing. I know who that person is and he has a clean record that didn’t deserve to be marred. He has since graduated and gone on to a good college.
The school year came to a close. I ended the year with a 3.4 thanks to math and I was still hopeful and alright with things. I hadn’t become jaded enough to be so pessimistic about school life and high school yet.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Freshmen Year
High school. If you’re not a cheerleader or star of the football team you probably dread or dreaded high school. Hell even if you are a cheerleader or a football star you still are probably miserable at least some of the time just like the rest of us. You want to know the weird thing? I used to love high school. I hated junior high when everyone started forming into cliques because I didn’t fit into any clique. Freshman year I started at a private Christian school. We had a principal who for the sake of privacy we will call Mr. Clinton. You will see why me picking this name is both ironic and funny later on. My mother used to tell me that High school was an experience that I needed to go through. No matter how harsh or easy it is I think she’s right. High school is something we need to get through and hopefully college is something we get to enjoy.
Anyway freshman year was fun. I have always believed in God and during my junior high years I went through a sort of crisis of faith, but I truly believe that God brought me back from my depression. So freshman year was everything you would expect. I had eight classes and one teacher in particular that I loved and still do love like family. I had reconnected with God and all was good. Of course I’m not a fan of the screaming southern Baptist (sorry if you are one. It’s just how I feel). In chapel which is every Wednesday we had some good preachers and we had some not so good preachers (you’re going to hell if you listen to that rap music). I got along fine. Made good friends and for the most part school came easily for me (except math). The only secret I was hiding and maybe still am is that my family doesn’t really go to church. This was in part due to the fact that my mother used to work every weekend at the hospital and she is really the one that leads us to doing anything. I never really had a problem with this. Wednesdays when I was younger my parents would take us to AWANA’s at a Baptist church until my brother and I outgrew them. I was baptized in a Methodist church when I was a baby and we go to a Methodist church on holidays. I have always considered myself a Methodist. I was the only Methodist at my school. The only other people who were not southern Baptist were a girl in my grade who was Presbyterian and two Seventh days Adventist who were in their junior and senior year respectively.
A few times I guess I wanted to go to church, but it never seemed to happen. I was happy though. I had chapel once a week and Bible class every day and I read the Bible quite a bit on my own so I felt I got my spiritual needs met and my relationship with God was strong( it still is I just fight with Him more). Everything was going along well until spring break. On the last few days of spring break I received word that Mr. Clinton, our principal, had been caught (on video tape that was secretly put into his office on the orders of some higher ups as I understand it) having an affair with his secretary who was also married I might add. I later found out that the tape in question is in the possession of an ex-students father who used to work or still does work for the school. This wasn’t the first time they had ordered a video camera in someone’s office without their consent or knowledge. Before I came there a friend told me that they suspected an employee of looking at porn at work. They caught him and he was disgraced and left. I would be interested to know if this videotaping practice is legal or not so If anyone could enlighten me I would be grateful.
I was disgusted with Mr. Clinton. Not only did his wife work at the school, but so did his adult son and daughter. When I came back to school that Monday everyone had questions. The high school students were called to a meeting where the pastor of the church in no uncertain terms told us not to ask any questions because he believed it led to gossip. He also made it clear that Mr. Clinton was asked to not return and that the school was looking for a replacement. That position for the principal of the school would remain unfilled until the end of my sophomore year.
As you can imagine rumors were spreading. When you don’t give kids the facts, rumors are even more outlandish. I had my first unpleasant experience with the administration in that meeting. I felt that we were old enough to understand and that it should be discussed. We should voice our opinion. After all I had been led to believe that we were a family and family’s talk about their problems right? My prayers were answered in sixth period Bible that day by that teacher I told you that I respected so much. We will call him Mr. Solomon. He voiced what I had been thinking. He told us that he didn’t think it right that the pastor was asking us not to speak so we all discussed what we felt. We had to be secretive you see. There was no telling what the administration would do if we were found out. I felt better after that class. Like I was being treated like some semblance of an adult, capable of thinking and feeling on my own. There was only one two more incidents that require being told. I had a homeroom teacher who was the higher math teacher as well (I was in algebra 1 so I did not have him for math, which I’m told is a blessing although at the time I didn’t think so) we will call him Mr. Mad. This name I’m afraid is barley exaggerated. At this point home room was right before lunch. Mr. Mad was a tall frail older gentleman with big glasses. He had a high almost effeminate voice with a county accent. He was…eccentric to say the least. He was odd, but the slackers in his classes loved him.
Apparently you could not make below an 85 on any of Mr. Math’s test. This wasn’t because he was such an amazing teacher, but rather because he would correct a problem and not mark it wrong. The students who actually wanted to learn something were becoming frequently frustrated. Anyway one day someone told either a local news channel or radio station (I can’t remember this detail) that Mr. Mad was an amazing teacher so he won teacher of the day. Now I bet you’re wondering what exactly made him mad?
Mr. Mad claimed that he had a wife who was in a wheelchair and who was almost legally blind. We all felt bad and prayed for her right before lunch almost every day. One day he told us that he was taking a few days off of work to take his wife to surgery where she would have her feet removed I think it was. While he was gone we made him a poster and a few girls made one of those giant cards in art class which we all signed. When he came back he kept promising that he would bring her in, but he never did. He would also tell these stories about how things happened when they didn’t. For instance I remember him talking about a kidnapping in the county over that very day. No such story had happened. In fact there had been no kidnappings for the last several months. One day towards the last week of school Mr. Mad declared that he would not be returning. The school gave no explanation. To be honest I was upset because he would have been my math teacher and I struggled with math. I was looking forward to making good grades in his class.
Before I reveal why he was fired let me tell you about the second Spanish teacher we had at our school. We will call her Ms. Underage. You see she liked younger guys. She liked younger guys with girlfriends. If you know anything about teenage girls you know that they are extremely territorial. They told who ever would listen about the flirting. Her contract was not renewed. Now was Ms. Underage acting inappropriately with these boys? I don’t honestly know. I wasn’t in her class and therefore did not see what all went on. I heard recently that she is teaching at a public school and girls there are jealous of her for flirting with their guys as well.
Back now to what was really going on with Mr. Mad. I had a friend who had to go to summer school for math and he overheard the real story. It was later confirmed by several teachers who would willingly talk to me about it later in sophomore year. Apparently Mr. Mad was in fact mentally unstable. Among other many lies, the wife that he claimed was dependent on him had left him about ten years ago and was living in Florida. It was creepy. This guy had access to all our files and personal information for a year and our school hadn’t bothered to check with past employers or anything? This wasn’t the first time they would drop the ball on who they hired. They ended up having problems with another Spanish teacher in my junior year which I will discuss in more detail on another post.
I ended my freshman year with a 3.6 GPA in spite of math and I was happy in spite of the drama. I felt like I belonged somewhere and that I was accepted. I had no idea that sophomore year would be the start of that all changing. His name…we will call him Mr. Potato.
Anyway freshman year was fun. I have always believed in God and during my junior high years I went through a sort of crisis of faith, but I truly believe that God brought me back from my depression. So freshman year was everything you would expect. I had eight classes and one teacher in particular that I loved and still do love like family. I had reconnected with God and all was good. Of course I’m not a fan of the screaming southern Baptist (sorry if you are one. It’s just how I feel). In chapel which is every Wednesday we had some good preachers and we had some not so good preachers (you’re going to hell if you listen to that rap music). I got along fine. Made good friends and for the most part school came easily for me (except math). The only secret I was hiding and maybe still am is that my family doesn’t really go to church. This was in part due to the fact that my mother used to work every weekend at the hospital and she is really the one that leads us to doing anything. I never really had a problem with this. Wednesdays when I was younger my parents would take us to AWANA’s at a Baptist church until my brother and I outgrew them. I was baptized in a Methodist church when I was a baby and we go to a Methodist church on holidays. I have always considered myself a Methodist. I was the only Methodist at my school. The only other people who were not southern Baptist were a girl in my grade who was Presbyterian and two Seventh days Adventist who were in their junior and senior year respectively.
A few times I guess I wanted to go to church, but it never seemed to happen. I was happy though. I had chapel once a week and Bible class every day and I read the Bible quite a bit on my own so I felt I got my spiritual needs met and my relationship with God was strong( it still is I just fight with Him more). Everything was going along well until spring break. On the last few days of spring break I received word that Mr. Clinton, our principal, had been caught (on video tape that was secretly put into his office on the orders of some higher ups as I understand it) having an affair with his secretary who was also married I might add. I later found out that the tape in question is in the possession of an ex-students father who used to work or still does work for the school. This wasn’t the first time they had ordered a video camera in someone’s office without their consent or knowledge. Before I came there a friend told me that they suspected an employee of looking at porn at work. They caught him and he was disgraced and left. I would be interested to know if this videotaping practice is legal or not so If anyone could enlighten me I would be grateful.
I was disgusted with Mr. Clinton. Not only did his wife work at the school, but so did his adult son and daughter. When I came back to school that Monday everyone had questions. The high school students were called to a meeting where the pastor of the church in no uncertain terms told us not to ask any questions because he believed it led to gossip. He also made it clear that Mr. Clinton was asked to not return and that the school was looking for a replacement. That position for the principal of the school would remain unfilled until the end of my sophomore year.
As you can imagine rumors were spreading. When you don’t give kids the facts, rumors are even more outlandish. I had my first unpleasant experience with the administration in that meeting. I felt that we were old enough to understand and that it should be discussed. We should voice our opinion. After all I had been led to believe that we were a family and family’s talk about their problems right? My prayers were answered in sixth period Bible that day by that teacher I told you that I respected so much. We will call him Mr. Solomon. He voiced what I had been thinking. He told us that he didn’t think it right that the pastor was asking us not to speak so we all discussed what we felt. We had to be secretive you see. There was no telling what the administration would do if we were found out. I felt better after that class. Like I was being treated like some semblance of an adult, capable of thinking and feeling on my own. There was only one two more incidents that require being told. I had a homeroom teacher who was the higher math teacher as well (I was in algebra 1 so I did not have him for math, which I’m told is a blessing although at the time I didn’t think so) we will call him Mr. Mad. This name I’m afraid is barley exaggerated. At this point home room was right before lunch. Mr. Mad was a tall frail older gentleman with big glasses. He had a high almost effeminate voice with a county accent. He was…eccentric to say the least. He was odd, but the slackers in his classes loved him.
Apparently you could not make below an 85 on any of Mr. Math’s test. This wasn’t because he was such an amazing teacher, but rather because he would correct a problem and not mark it wrong. The students who actually wanted to learn something were becoming frequently frustrated. Anyway one day someone told either a local news channel or radio station (I can’t remember this detail) that Mr. Mad was an amazing teacher so he won teacher of the day. Now I bet you’re wondering what exactly made him mad?
Mr. Mad claimed that he had a wife who was in a wheelchair and who was almost legally blind. We all felt bad and prayed for her right before lunch almost every day. One day he told us that he was taking a few days off of work to take his wife to surgery where she would have her feet removed I think it was. While he was gone we made him a poster and a few girls made one of those giant cards in art class which we all signed. When he came back he kept promising that he would bring her in, but he never did. He would also tell these stories about how things happened when they didn’t. For instance I remember him talking about a kidnapping in the county over that very day. No such story had happened. In fact there had been no kidnappings for the last several months. One day towards the last week of school Mr. Mad declared that he would not be returning. The school gave no explanation. To be honest I was upset because he would have been my math teacher and I struggled with math. I was looking forward to making good grades in his class.
Before I reveal why he was fired let me tell you about the second Spanish teacher we had at our school. We will call her Ms. Underage. You see she liked younger guys. She liked younger guys with girlfriends. If you know anything about teenage girls you know that they are extremely territorial. They told who ever would listen about the flirting. Her contract was not renewed. Now was Ms. Underage acting inappropriately with these boys? I don’t honestly know. I wasn’t in her class and therefore did not see what all went on. I heard recently that she is teaching at a public school and girls there are jealous of her for flirting with their guys as well.
Back now to what was really going on with Mr. Mad. I had a friend who had to go to summer school for math and he overheard the real story. It was later confirmed by several teachers who would willingly talk to me about it later in sophomore year. Apparently Mr. Mad was in fact mentally unstable. Among other many lies, the wife that he claimed was dependent on him had left him about ten years ago and was living in Florida. It was creepy. This guy had access to all our files and personal information for a year and our school hadn’t bothered to check with past employers or anything? This wasn’t the first time they would drop the ball on who they hired. They ended up having problems with another Spanish teacher in my junior year which I will discuss in more detail on another post.
I ended my freshman year with a 3.6 GPA in spite of math and I was happy in spite of the drama. I felt like I belonged somewhere and that I was accepted. I had no idea that sophomore year would be the start of that all changing. His name…we will call him Mr. Potato.
Intro
So I think it's only fair that you know why I'm doing this blog. I'm on the road to discovering who I am. I am rehashing the past in order to be able to get to the future. I do talk in detail about my experience in a christian private schoo. It isn't to persecute anyone's faith. I myself am a person of faith. I am disclosing what has happened at my time in a private christian school not to discourage anyone from going to one because at one point I truly loved it there, but rather I am sharing this to show you that private schools have problems just like public school and because of the christian element that was attached to my private school experience we had diffrent problems to worry about.
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