by Jan Shoop
I thought it would be fun to follow up with my version of what happened when Rand had a spill at StarShine…
I was returning to the school campus from an offsite meeting walking through the front gate, when I noticed three of the high school boys gathered around the office door. I walked up and said hi and asked what they were doing. The boys greeted me politely with smiles and said they were waiting for electives to start.
“Danny” I asked, “What elective are you in?”
Danny quickly replied, “AIMS math. I need to improve my math to be ready for the AIMS test.”
“Good answer,” I said with a smile.
I turned to Aldo and asked, “What elective are you in?”
“Study hall,” he replied.
“You have some core classes to catch up on?” I quizzed.
“Yep,” he replied.
I was on a roll, I thought. All good answers so far.
“Junior, what elective are you in?” I asked.
“Study hall, but today I’m teaching guitar,” he responded.
“And why are you teaching guitar?” I asked.
“Because Mr. Rand just broke his hand, so I’m teaching guitar,” Junior replied confidently.
“Oh!” I said, “And where is Mr. Rand right now?”
“He’s in the cafeteria getting ice,” said Junior calmly.
I headed for the cafeteria. As I rounded the corner, Rand was walking out the back
cafeteria door with Maria hovering behind him. Rand’s hand was wrapped in ice, his face a little grey and he didn’t look to good. I asked Rand what happened. Rand explained that he was hurrying from his classroom to the cafeteria and tripped over a brick on the sidewalk. I walked Rand back to my office and gave him the information for our worker’s compensation policy. He seemed a little in shock. I suggested that I drive him to the hospital, but Rand being Rand, wanted to drive himself. We went round and round. In the end I lost. And so Rand drove himself to the doctor, who then sent him to the hospital. Rand called me later to say he had a compound fracture of his pinky finger and that the doctor would be performing surgery later that night.
Now… I’m not telling this story to belabor the fact that Rand broke his finger. I’m telling this story to point out how students can surprise you sometimes, in the most pleasant ways. Even though one of StarShine’s favorite teachers had an injury, the students were calm and ready to help. Junior just assumed it would be his responsibility to teach the class. No one had to ask him. He just volunteered.
Simple Parent Tips
Ageless at 80
