Category: school

school pictures

It is school picture time again. Freshmen pictures had to be pre-ordered and paid for sight unseen. Unbeknown to me, the high school freshman made a last minute change to his wardrobe and chose the same color shirt as the color I specified for a background. His picture will look like a weatherman in a […]

early graduation

“They said I can graduate early if I skip guard this year.” Those words were the tap that sent dominoes falling without a way to stop and with no do-over option. Once you tell a teenager that they don’t have to be at school . . . they have no intention of being at school. […]

local elections – school board version (pt 2)

If you live in the 9th district, your School Board choice can be narrowed down to one simple question. If you want to continue with the representation you have now, Bratton is your candidate. If you want something different, Trainor is your candidate. If you live in a cave and don’t know that both of […]

local elections – school board version

If you live in Knox County’s seventh district, your choice for School Board is Sepesi or Warwick. Both seem like good people with sincere motives. Because of their career histories, both are going to be clear and quick thinkers if there is a crisis. If you want to save vo-tech programs, Warwick is your candidate. […]

summer reading

Ahhh, June first and the start of summer fun school assignments. The youngest children don’t have formal assignments, so they get to choose their own books and we casually work on specific skills. Evan excels at numbers, so we are learning what sounds belong to each letter. Amy’s reading and writing abilities are amazing, so […]

Ready for clown school

“Evan, I need you to pay attention and answer the teachers’ questions today.” “Okay. I’ll tell them a good joke.” “Umm, why don’t you tell me the joke first.” “Knock-knock.” “Who’s there?” “Apple.” “Apple who?” “Apple head! Bwa-ha-ha! Isn’t that funny?” On the class assignment flowchart, “apple head” is guaranteed to bypass all the academic […]

Evan says:

Evan: “Do I have show and tell today?” Me: “No.” Evan: “Is it a treasure box day?” Me: “No.” Evan: “Then, why am I going to school?” Me: “Today is fire drill day.” Evan: “Awesome!”

I do get weary

After almost twenty years with a child who doesn’t fit the mold and that same amount of time spent advocating, I get tired. It is exhausting to constantly explain to those who don’t want to understand. It makes your bones hurt to have obstacles and insults hurled at you daily. It is draining to trudge […]

School Board meeting (Twitter explanations)

As I’ve mentioned before, I like going to School Board meetings. Last week, I went and Twittered the meeting, but that left half a dozen things in need of explanations. First, Tennessee was represented at the Race to the Top final interviews by only ONE Superintendent from the entire state, Dr. McIntyre. That speaks volumes […]