Spring 2002
Fictional journal response to “Horace’s School” by Theodore Sizer:
Troy’s Journal:
June – Thoughtful Places
So, my name is Troy. I’m gonna be a Senior next year and I got on this “school reform” committee kind’a late ’cause I think someone dropped out or moved or something. I got on the committee ’cause my football coach said that it’d be good “leadership practice” or some shit, er, stuff like that. I don’t know. I’m only going to be here for another season, but, well, coach said it’d something good to have on my school record. Whatever.
So I have to go to these meeting and one of the math teachers, I think his name’s Mr. Smith, was talking about how the teachers need to change the way they work so that . . . what were his words? Oh yeah, so that Franklin could be a more “thoughtful place.” Whatever. I was afraid that they were gonna make us hold hands and sing songs. But it actually got interesting, especially when one of the old lady teachers got mad and left the room in a huff. That was cool.
What’s not cool was that someone must have thought it’d be a good idea to invite some punk kids from the junior high to hang with us. One of the brats was gnawing on my last good nerve, whining about something. He keeps this up, I’m going to have to whack ‘im.
So the Smith guy wants the teachers to work together, says that it’s better for us students, and a lot of the teachers weren’t too happy about . . . well, about being told what to do. I’ll never figure it out. They spend their whole time tellin’ us what to do, but say one thing to them and Boom! It’s “Desert Storm” all over again. I mean, the English department was pissed at the Math department and, check this out, they were talking about dropping anything that wasn’t academic. Damn. I’m glad I’m graduating this year. I don’t think that i could’ve tolerated this place if it weren’t for football. Whatever. TA
July – The Committee’s Report
If I had known that I was going to have to be here for these meetings during the summer I would’a told coach to forget it. We’re almost ready to start our two-a-day practices and I can’t be sitting here when I need to be working out. That’s bad enough, but then the junior high buggers have decided that they like to sit next to me at the meetings. and this is after I had to whack the whinny one because he wouldn’t shut up. Go fig’er. Junior high kids are nuts.
Besides teachers and parents (and whinny junior high buggers) more people from the district have been coming. I guess they finished collecting their forms and stuff. Mr. Smith said that they’re ready to put some paper together to say what changes they want to make. I got a chance to read some of the copies, “first drafts” or something like that. Whatever. Anyway, some of their ideas are totally whack. They want us to do projects to prove what we learned instead of taking tests. I’m not too hot about taking tests, but projects? My little sister in elementary school does projects, dioramas and shit, er stuff. Man, I can see why a bunch of the teachers were blowin’ a fuse. And get this, they want to get rid of everything ‘cept like Math and Science, and reading and writing (of course), and history. I don’t know what the auto-shop guys are going to do, but the FFA are going to crap their pants, er, whatever.
Stuff like drama and the newspaper aren’t going away, but instead of being like an after-school club it’ll be like part of our English or history class. That is so weird, but it might be cool ’cause then more kids might get a chance to do that stuff instead of just the drama-geeks and stuff. Man, this is going to chance everything. Oh yeah, and instead of just graduating you’ll get like on certificate for finishing traditional school and then another one if you take something called “early college” classes. I still can’t get my brain around the idea that you have to do projects, er, what did they call them? Oh yeah, “exhibitions” or something like that. Oh yeah, and they want to organize the school into something called “Houses.” The more I read the weirder it gets. TA
July/August – Policy and Power
Two-a-days are kicking my butt. At least I din’t have to baby-sit the junior high brats at the last meeting. I don’t know what happen to them. Maybe their mommies told them to stay away from me. Cool. God, I will be so glad when this is over. Only good part (besides watching the teachers get their undies in a bundle . . oh yuck, that thought sucked), is some of the local talent is pretty nice to look at. Ha, there are even a couple of teachers that are pretty fine to look at. Shit, I must’a hit my head harder than i thought to say that. I don’t know and don’t wanna know how they go from being cuties in sexy jumpsuits and skirts to jumbo size. Okay, am i having a problem focusing or what.
Smith went on last time about how they were going to do this renewal, reform, or whatever. It lots like the parents are cool with it. The teachers, well, who can really tell what teachers think ’cause they rarely actually say what they’re thinking, even the nice ones. Like Ms., damn, what’s her name . . . Maybe I should start this over when I’m less . . . um, distracted.
Only thing that I got from the last meeting was something Smith was saying about the job or role that we all had in fixing our school. He said that principals were just “leading teachers.” I thought that that would get a rise out of Mrs. Rosenblume, but she just smiled that polite smile of hers. Then he said that teachers needed to be more like coaches instead of preachers from the pulpit, or something like that. I like that. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I like it.
Well, we’re almost done. I know that some of my “fellow students” are all geeked up about the changes. I don’t know. Some things sound kind of cool, but most of it, well, I guess we’ll see if it works when we see. Hopefully I’ll be playin’ ball at the college before they pull the plug and kill the sports. That would be bad. TA
Pepperdine OMAET 