September Changes

A few things I've noticed in September...

1) obviously the weather has begun to change. That has been a welcomed arrival, especially since my room is an outdoor access room. I bet the Japanese maple at camp is looking beautiful...

2) The first 6 weeks came to a close at the end of September. Survived the first one - and wow, what a ride. It reminds of being at camp in some ways. Your campers arrive on Sunday, they are tough, they try to impress, they are walled off. Then around Tuesday night/Wednesday morning they begin to let their guard down and actually allow you, as their counselor, to see their softer inside and they become so much more teachable. This first 6 weeks has very much felt like "Sunday-Tuesday". Some of the walls are coming down, most of the kids are beginning to get into a routine... so I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that we can move into the good zone for a bit.

3) Sadly, an Austin ISD teacher, who was voted teacher of the year in May of this year, has now in September lost her job because of a blog. Foolishly, she used real names, photos, and made derogatory statements about the kids and their families. Her blog was not password protected or blocked from search engines. She said she was keeping the blog as a way to inform her family and friends of what was going on in her world. Unfortunately, you cannot violate privacy rights of students. This morning, A good friend clued me in to this happening and it has been a good reminder for me as I blog. I'll likely use some seriously outrageous names for the sake of protecting the identity of the kiddos.

4) One thing that has not changed in September is the behavior of "Klopek". Today, Klopek came in and was excited to see we had new seating arrangements... until he discovered his spot was right next to my desk and that he was at a table "full of losers!" in his words. He tried to get me to switch his spot to "the cool" table, which I denied, he has earned no privileges in my book. Then he decided to get out a hat. This might seem insignificant, but everyone knows... it's an ISD rule, NO HATS on school property. Too many gang affiliations and so much more, so no hats. Period. So he gets his out, knowing he's going to push the rules. The other teacher tells him to put it away and he complies for about 10 minutes. Then gets it back out. I tell him, "Klopek, put it away." He moves it half way under his bag. I said, "No, I can't be able to see it whatsoever." He blows me off. So I say, "Alright, give it to me." Now he's mad. "You can't take it! It's mine." So I say, "Alright, then put it away, completely." Again, no response. So again, "Give it to me." Again, "You can't take it."
"I'm not going to take it, you can go see your principal about it." so I write him up... (sigh)... again. And off he goes, with his hat on now. Only along the way, he encounters the Head Fred Principal (HFP going forward). HFP is awesome, he is legit, enforces discipline and is well respected. HFP says, "Son, put the hat away." Same routine. Second warning. Klopek gets rowdier. Third warning. Klopek then calls HFP a "chicken sh*t". Now there's cops and the whole hoopla. You can't cuss at HFP, ever. So we'll see what Klopek's punishment is this time. Suspension I'm sure...I can't keep him in class long enough to teach him anything.

Pray for this: Klopek could be the type of kid who decides to bring a weapon to school to "show how strong he is." He is so very desperate to prove himself and be accepted. Please pray against that, and for the safety of all of us who encounter him or many like him every day. Pray that he finds the True Acceptance he is looking for in Jesus.