First Day Down

Whew!! And what a first day it was! Things were blissfully calm in the library today, unlike the hallways, classrooms, and bus ramp. Our last bus didn't arrive until about 25 minutes after school was supposed to start, but the principal really did come in and give his message to the kids during morning announcements. He has unbounding energy. I think I feel more tired just being around him--how can that be? Library classes started today, which was new and different for us, but I really liked it. Why not just jump into the first day with both feet?!?! It was great, even kindergarten. I was a little worried that they'd cry when their teacher left, but they were fine and I was fine! No tears! No bathroom accidents! Dismissal was a bit crazy this afternoon, and I was mostly thankful to be sitting in my little room typing in the bus numbers ever so slowly. It took almost an hour for dismissal to finish: car riders went on forever, there was an accident at the entrance to the school, and some kids were temporarily misplaced. Well, I shouldn't say they were misplaced--they were just not listening to where they should go or what they should do! Thank goodness for laptops so I could continue to work while sitting there waiting for bus numbers to be announced. All in all, a productive first day. I came home and drank some wine and feel like I might be able to do it all over again tomorrow.

Sewing

I feel like I'm working in a sweat shop today. All afternoon, I've been sewing curtains for the library. I am enjoying it, but sewing lots of straight lines gets boring fast! When I finish this last one, I'll treat myself with an Eric Carle wall hanging I've been wanting to put together for a while. I know it's more straight lines, but it'll be fun!! School starts tomorrow with the kiddos. I'm very excited, even though I can't listen to the President's speech live (see previous post). Time to get back to the sweat shop.

Very Disturbing News

I am very concerned. Our school board has decided that we will not watch the President's speech on Tuesday. This is the wording that was placed on the county's website:

Because of logistical issues related to the first day of school and other concerns regarding the short planning window available, members of the XXX XXX School Board have elected not to have XXX's schools participate in the live presentation on September 8th. They have instead expressed a preference to make the President's comments to students available via video at a later date. The plan and procedures associated with making this opportunity available for XXX's students will be announced next week. I just don't know what to do. My first ammendment hackles are up. I sent an email of concern to our public information officer, with no response yet. Can a school board really tell us that we are not allowed to watch something? I sure hope that this is not politically motivated. He is our President, and he is making the time to address students. I cannot think of another President who did this. He is making lessons available and the speech can be streamed, listened to on the radio, or on cable TV. I am just shaking my head in disbelief. Is the school board restricting students' first ammendment rights? or mine?