Renovations Are Coming: Prepare the Dozers!

I'm three pictures and a pargraph by Mr. Preece describing me as an "employee" away from being finished with my "Me Brochure" for Mrs. Moore, and I'll be finished with work-based learning. Technically, it's my first final - the first of four. I won't have to take Mr. Allens thanks to having A's each semester, and I assuming I won't have to take Mr. Copley's either since I've done none of the work in there so far. Mrs. Preece's will likely be over whatever the last thing we do in class is, as will be Mrs. Harmon's. Mrs. Bentley's is going to be our "The Color Purple" paper, which will be done in an hour. The enthusiasm she emitted when she told us this was indescribable - the woman must have won the lottery!

I'm typing this wearing the blue Renaissance Festival shirt I've been wearing for two days now, a pair of white cargo shorts with stains from the ice cream cake I ate for breakfast this morning on them and an XM Radio cap my mom gave to me that she got from work. My hair's greasy from having not been washed since yesterday morning and sweat that accumulated in it while I was playing tennis on my swollen ankle this afternoon. Ice and keeping it wrapped has helped that - and a good, hot shower will fix my hair problem in the morning. 

Magic/Celtics Game Four is playing adjacent to my left on a 20" television and I haven't been paying that much attention to it. End of the 3rd and Boston's up 8. I hope Boston wins it in 7 - just so Cleveland can crush them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

I'm starting to believe that becoming a meteorologist would be the greatest job ever. You get to be on TV and tell people what you think will happen, and you get paid to do it. Friday night, I was told by Jim Caldwell, WYMT's weather man, that Sunday would be sunny and that rain would be a no show. From what I've been told by my pals, rain is now being forecast for tonight. Weather men = ridiculous.

I'm only invested in the weather at the moment, though, because of the flooding situation in Eastern Kentucky. It's been wonderful in Huntington, but from I'm hearing, it's pretty lousy back home. I hope everyone is doing fine as possible at the moment. No word on school being cancelled yet, but I'll try to spread the word via Twitter and MySpace if the info presents itself before the night is over.

I'm unsure how "breaking" this is, but I suppose I'll reveal to the readers of this blog that Mrs. Patricia Elliott will be stepping down as the principal of Sheldon Clark High School. My grapevine of information has yet to reveal the reasoning behind her resignation, but has dropped the name of Mr. Robbie Fletcher, current WMS Principal, as the likely candidate to be hired for the position once the job is officially posted in June. Remember, this is all is rumor (aside from Mrs. Elliott's resignation - that's fact), but Mr. Nichols could be in line to take over Warfield Middle if Mr. Fletcher leaves.

You can say what you want about Mrs. Elliott, but I feel like she's a woman who has been victimized by a system she should have realized was going to destroy her if she stayed within it. Word is she was offered another position within the school system and she hasn't made a decision regarding her acceptance of it. My advice to the lame-duck principal - decline the offer and escape the Martin County Board of Education's grip. Go somewhere where your agenda, one that has the best interests of the student at heart, will actually matter. The MCBOE has done little to prove it's out to serve the students, in my opinion. She should go somewhere where her expertise, caring, will be more well-received.

On Mr. Fletcher replacing Mrs. Elliott: I think he would be a wonderful fit for the school. While she has been a caring principal, she has lacked the authoritative nature I feel a principal should have. A principal should strike a degree of fear into their pupils, enough that they'll respect them, at least. I feel like Mrs. Elliott hasn't received the respect her position deserves, and that's at least partially her fault I suspect. With Mr. Fletcher, Sheldon Clark would be gaining a man who has some experience in the job, has led WMS to higher test scores, and will have an established connection with many of the students currently attending the school - an advantage for a first year principal. I fear that maybe the power over the county's only high school could go to his head, but he graduated from a worthwhile school - I think he'll be fine.

On Mr. Nichols becoming a principal, anywhere: No. I don't mind Mr. Nichols, really. I think he's a decent man, actually. He's treated me with a pretty well amount of respect and I have done him the same. However, I am convinced the power would definitely go to his head. His adoration of that bullhorn of he carries around is enough to convince me of that. I hope I'm wrong, though. I'd like to see all of the potential Martin County principals do well.

On Mrs. Elliott departing: Was she a good fit for SCHS? Not at all. Her motherly personality is definitely more fit for an elementary or middle school, where I hope she ends up if she does indeed opt to stay in the county. Will she be missed? Definitely. While her reign at the school has been a short one (she began during my freshman year, and will graduate with me), it has been one that has seen improvements to the school made. During her tenure, the school has seen the football field renovated, many of the school's facilities upgraded, and soap dispensers have even recently been installed under her watchful eye. 

I admire Mrs. Elliott. She has made much out of admittedly nothing in short time frame. Sure, she hasn't struck fear into the hearts of any students by any stretch of the imagination. She hasn't led the school to the top of the state in test scores, but even Oprah doesn't have that much power.

She has tried, though. Under the will of a corrupt institution, she has been the face of its most diseased limb. She has been the leader of the scab on the sickly patient that is the Martin County Board of Education. She has stuck up for his students more than any of us know. She has loved us, I truly believe. I'm proud to have been the first, and only it seems, freshman class she gets to see graduate from start to finish under her authority. I'm proud that I'll be standing on the football field receiving my diploma as she looks on, probably tearing up, cause my class has been as closer to children to her than any others she has seen walk through.

And she's been like a mother keeping an eye on us, making sure we're okay even though we aren't aware of it. She has every right to cry. And so will we.

Batman, AWAY!!!
Joshua Aaron Moore

Quote of the Day

"Have you ever been fake for the sake of saving face?" --- Cute Is What We Aim For, Do What You Do