So much more than just another day....

The school year is drawing to a close. Seniors are suddenly aware that there is a finish line...and they are almost upon it.

Graduation time is different in an alternative school. Many of our graduates are "Super Seniors". They didn't graduate with their class...but they are still here. They are still plugging away. Underneath it all, there is this quiet hopefulness.

There are days when it looks like these seniors aren't doing much more than showing up...and to be honest, some days that is exactly what they are doing. If you were to ask the students if they think they will graduate, many will tell you that they doubt that they will. They will give you all the reasons why they can't. They know all about failing. All about disappointing their families. All about falling short of expectations.

What many of these kids don't know about is succeeding.

UNTIL a staff member, "their" staff member, comes along and pulls them towards the finish line...often with their heels dug into the ground the whole way. This is where that quiet hopefulness comes in.

By the time our kids are nearing graduation, they have usually connected with someone on staff that becomes "theirs". This is the staff member who knows them best. This is the staff member who believes in them when they don't believe in themselves.

This is the time when you see what an alternative high school is all about. And let me tell you something. It is amazing. Talk about paying it forward.

Many people will look at an alternative high school, and the students in it, and see the following:

• Drug users
• Kids that have no respect for authority
• Kids that do what they want, when they want
• Kids that "can't make it in a regular high school"

Too bad they don't also see the following:

• Kids that are "walking wounded"
• Kids that opt out of learning because they have failed so many times already
• Kids that get lost in the "regular high school" because they just don't fit in
• Kids who, because of their life experiences, don't trust

When our kids graduate, it really means something. It means so much more than the fact they have completed the requisite 22.5 credits of core & elective classes.

It means that even though they gave up, they found a way to trust enough in themselves or their staff member or something - to keep going. They managed to filter out all the nonsense in their life and get this one thing done.

And they deserve to have their moment.

I tell them that this Office Lady doesn't cry. Ever. Not even at their graduation. But just between you and me, that might not be true.

It's a God Thing

Today one of our students came into the office wanting to see the nurse. He didn't look good. In fact, his face was scraped up and one cheek had a good sized knot on it.

I know what you're thinking..."it's another fight story."

Well, sort of.

Here's how it goes:

Last night, he left his home angry. Got on his bike and rode towards the island. He stopped on the bridge. At some point in time, a truck drives by. One of the passengers yells at him to "GET THE F--- OFF THE BRIDGE" - to which he responds, "I'LL DO WHATEVER THE F--- I WANT!"

Bad idea.

The truck turns around, comes back to him. The passenger jumps out and hits him once in the face. Tries to take his bike. He trips over his own bike and falls down. The passenger then kicks him several times in the face. He's actually not sure how many times because he apparently lost consciousness. When he woke up, he heard his cell phone ringing in the road.

*** "Where's the God thing??" ***

Right here.

The phone call was from his family who were quite worried about him. They knew he was on the bridge, and they were worried about what he was going to do. It's not like this is a great big huge bridge. But...it's a bridge. If you jump off and miss the water, the outcome won't be good. Might not be good even if you hit the water.

I asked him if he had been planning to jump. He said ... well...he didn't think so...but just before the truck went by, he was standing there thinking about what everyone would think and do if he jumped.

Guess he didn't get to finish that thought, because that truck did turn around. If it hadn't, we might be grieving the loss of another kid this year.

So yeah, I think it was a God thing.

Frontier Justice

Fights...a time-tested example of frontier justice.

Yesterday, the talk over the walkie talkies was about a fight that had just happened. There were about 100 witnesses, but none of the participants in the fight could be found. Lots of blood though. This fight, like many others, took place just off campus. The person who was the former owner of all the blood now spilled onto the pavement is a survivalist-minded sociopath type. What seemed odd was that he apparently never even attempted to defend himself during this fight. He was pummeled. Nose broken...major blood spillage. You know the drill.

Everyone who has dealt with this kid over the years worries that he'll kill someone someday.

So when we heard he was the victim in this fight, our main concern was that he was going to come to school the next day to even the score. He has access to all kinds of weapons...and he likes to talk about them. Needless to say, we were all hyper-vigilant throughout the day. He didn't show up during school, which seemed odd.

Typically, sociopaths are not big on the whole "humiliation in front of their peers" thing.

As I left work that day, I finally saw our victim. He was walking back towards the scene of the fight. As I continued on down the road, I saw that there were about 40 or 50 kids waiting for him.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking right about now - which is why I turned my car around and went back into the building to let the school officer know what I'd just seen. He seemed unconcerned.

Ok...well...at least I had done what I thought I needed to do.

I got back into my car. Drove past the scene again. NO ONE was there. Nada. Zilch. In the space of 10 minutes, all those kiddos had disappeared. Every single last one of them.

Then I figured it out. Our victim had to be seen.

Turns out the reason the fight took place in the first place was that he was rumored to have beat up his own mom. Kids got wind of that...and their designated enforcer had to exact the street's form of frontier justice.

That explains why he didn't fight back. This was all about some twisted sense of right and wrong - the social mores of today disaffected youth. Dare I say it, our sociopath was actually "doing the right thing" by standing there and taking his public flogging.

Going back, all bruised and broken, to the scene of the crime was somehow an example of honor. Even he knew when even he had crossed the line. His return for a public viewing was their way of bringing closure to the whole event. He was the proverbial wounded warrior returning home.

Good grief. It's nauseating.