Finney Orientation

Unusual for a high school to invite their students, returning and new, to come in, meet their teachers, check out the classrooms, and bring their parents to hear the guidelines and regulations about conduct and dress. But Finney does it every year. Drew has gone ahead of me to help set up the Robotics display and recruit new students.

I am careful to make sure I can get away from work to be there. So often I cannot attend these sorts of parent events. Usually, they schedule them on Thursday evenings, and I have choir rehearsal then and cannot go. Perhaps that is a blessing in disguise. If I went to a Parent Teacher Organization meeting, I would likely end up volunteering for something, and really I do not have the luxury of adding anything else to my schedule.

We do the usual awkward thing of not sitting with our kids and trying not to embarrass them by saying something dumb. I listen to the litany of do's and don'ts, remembering from last year the long explanation about no gum chewing, and being surprised to discover that I can send in a note ahead of time when Drew has a dentist appointment. That way I don't have to come in and request he be pulled from class. Good.

We wander around from room to room, meeting teachers. I am beginning to know these teachers a bit after three years. There have been recent changes, some good, some the value of which remains to be seen. The school repaired the roof over the summer. That was good. They moved the Spanish teacher into the English literature position. They rented the facility to a church on the weekends to help with expenses. They hired a new Spanish teacher. They added bleachers in the gym.

We will see how this year goes. At least they get to start with a clean record. No zeros to be overcome. Drew tried to connect with his locker and put his supplies safely away, but wasn't able to. So on the first day of school, I will have to drive in so he can fish stuff out of the trunk. There is no way he can cart all that heavy stuff on the bus. Ah, well. At least its early in the morning and I will still be able to get to work in a timely fashion.

Only two more years of high school for Drew. He is already strategizing about college. We will likely be making some trips this year to check out a few places. Yup. Good and remains to be seen. Stay tuned.