Sunday evening

The weather has done an about-face and it is winter here now. Brrrr! Here is a piece I wrote the day I spent at the BOCES campus with troubled highschoolers. I decided to share it with you:

I was initiated into the 21st century BOCES school system today as a sub receptionist in the principal's office. The experience has left me feeling shaken to the core. To the end that I am seriously considering not accepting any more jobs from this campus. Many of the students are troubled and disruptive. There was a strong contrast between the warm and welcoming faculty and staff and the students themselves. Fear and anger seem to bounce off the tiled walls. I have deep respect for the dedicated people who continue to serve the extreme needs of these teens. I question how the so-called "normal" students function in this environment. When I was a student, I was in a one room schoolhouse in a small farm town in NYS. The older students took turns keeping the woodstove going, the cloak room cleaned up and the desks/blackboards washed. I stayed in that school for six years. At grade 7, our school closed and we were transported to Knickerbacker Jr. HS in North Troy, NY Some of my class were sent to other city schools. Four of us melted into 1200 students. It was total shock for us rural kids but out of that large student body, the rebellious students were a small minority. It took more than half the school year to become somewhat comfortable in the "city" environment and focus on learning. Most of us had respect for our teachers, the administration and our family. Foul abusive language was not tolerated. How times have changed! Why? Is it due to a lapse in parenting, in teaching, in the lack of religion being the focal point of the community or is it in the bigger picture of society itself?