Teaching at the high school level is like living on a different planet. They are “out of this world” with their ideas, their actions, and their defiance. And I loved them for it! They kept me young, and they allowed me the outlet I often needed from excessive paperwork, overbearing administrators, and never-ending legislation on what I was to be doing in my classroom. But most importantly, I loved them for reminding me that we are all human, and we screw up… even when we think we’ve crossed all the Ts and dotted all the Is!
As the sponsor of our school yearbook, I was challenged with creating lessons with no resources, working with an obscene deadline, and putting together a marvelous book of memories on zero funds. So, what do you do… fundraisers. Oh, Lord!
We sold ads, we washed cars (even Semi-trucks), and we passed out Bingo cards. But the Scholar T-Shirts… Oh, they were our biggest fundraiser EVER!
Our principal was one of those that had a kind heart, but she was simply unprepared to do the job she was in. To make matters worse, she could not remember student’s names. To counter this deficit, she decided to make the word SCHOLARS the “go to” term for our school. We heard it every morning on the announcements, saw it on all the posters, and read it in the school newsletters.
To commemorate our year as her fine scholars, my yearbook staff decided to create T-shirts to sell to the student body: Proud to be a FCHS Scholar! One problem…
When the shirts came back from the printer, we had a little problem: the h was gone and we were “Proud to be FCHS scolars!” Oh, our principal flipped out! She demanded we trash the t-shirts. Now, I am usually a rules-follower, but we had invested too much in those shirts. I couldn’t just throw them away. Yet we knew we could not sell them at the games as planned. And that’s when the underground movement began.
We were slicker than the bootleggers of the Roaring 20s! The t-shirts, now deemed contraband, were sold out in a matter of days, and the demand for more was incredible. What did I do? I ordered more! My classroom had shirts stuffed in every cabinet, and sales were conducted with a lookout standing in the hall.
All of those kids are grown and gone now. They’ve finished their degrees, some have married, and some already have children of their own. But, when I need to laugh, I just think about them sneaking through the halls with the forbidden shirts, and I have to giggle. My scolars! Oh, I loved those kids!
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