The Butcher, The Waker, The Graduate Maker

I will be absent from school on Wednesday, what with some medical testing to be done. Those lab techs have the NERVE to work regular nine-to-five hours. How dare they! And not even a rousing rendition of The Esteemed Miss Parton's Nine-To-Five will they be singing during my testing.

Everybody knows how much Mrs. Hillbilly Mom hates to miss work. Mabel knows especially well. It is she who declares that after Mrs. HM is gone, people will not say, "That Hillbilly Mom! She never missed work!" Nope. Mabel swears they will say, "Who's Hillbilly Mom?" She's good for my ego, that Mabel. She encourages me to wake up and smell the coffee. And she even volunteered to take one of her own sick days to accompany me to the butcher shop--er--hospital. Isn't that sweet?

My own dear mother, she of the 4-year-old ranch dressing Thanksgiving faux pas, volunteered ahead of Ms Mabel, so I regretfully declined the offer. I swear, sometimes, that Mabel is nearly a Mother Teresa.

Here's some top secret news. Shh...don't tell anybody. Only two people know right now, and one of them is ME. It's not set in stone yet, but there is talk that next school year, my schedule may be different. Different as in better for me. Different as in only one prep instead of three. You heard me! Virtually a 67% reduction in preparation for my classes, with my salary staying the same as ever. Can't beat THAT with a stick, huh Bean, my dear old friend with an appreciation of colloquial vernacular?

What brings about this change, you ask? A small class moving ahead through the ranks, for one. Not as many sections are needed, and common sense says why split the remaining sections between two teachers? Also, we're looking at a new direction that is actually a U-turn in the old direction in helping At-Risk students. We have OH SO MANY options to help them these days, but apparently none has had the success of our old At-Risk program. Soo...not to toot my own horn, but my opinion was asked, and I gladly gave it, and there just might be a return to the old way of making these kids utilize their time under my watchful eye and demanding regime so that they do not fail from lack of effort. It's a re-structuring, if you will, a return to the general in lieu of the specific. A reversal of the double dose theory, reverting back to the four-core extra help, extra time, extra accountability model.

Yeah. And why was I the lucky recipient of this program? Perhaps because I've done it before with success. Perhaps because some people work better with this type of kid than others. Perhaps because I can be a student's best asset or worst nightmare.

I'm ready to take on the challenge again. It's only for two classes. I'll still get my four sections of freshman physics. It's the perfect balance.

Keep your fingers crossed.