September 21, 2012
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Volunteer Lady
Yesterday, I dropped the ball on a volunteer commitment. Not at school – don’t worry….I even showed up for a meeting there in the morning which presented me with absolutely no new information, but gave me a squeaky and uncomfortable cafeteria seat from which to check my email on my phone. No, I have not yet let down the school and suspect that any day now I will receive a check in the mail for all the time I have put in to getting their school year up and running. (Kidding. But kind of serious.)
No, it seems that yesterday was day one of the backpack delivery program for which I volunteer, getting food to needy kids for the weekend. It wasn’t really my fault, though, as the administrator of the program updated her email addresses and left a critical letter “t” out of mine. Oops. Thankfully, she called me and alerted me to the problem and I was able to make the delivery this morning. Whew!
While I was there, a guidance counselor encouraged an 8th grade girl to come outside and help me unload the backpacks. I mentioned how lucky she was to get to enjoy a little sunshine before heading back into class. There was a pause after that comment in which I thought she might roll her eyes at me for being so Pollyanna. But instead, she smirked and said, “It is so BORING in there.” She told me she’s a new student at the school, and she doesn’t like it. Huh, I hadn’t noticed.
In addition to the useless morning meeting at our kids’ school yesterday, I also attended Back to School Night, along with the Mr. They make a big deal about it, putting up special displays in the school, getting the kids to write us notes in their classrooms, getting the teachers all gussied up and ready to make presentations…..and then we sit in the gym for a longer than necessary PTA meeting. When it’s over, we are allowed 15 minutes in 2 classrooms. So, if you have more than 2 kids, you need to figure out how to make that work, and if you have less than 2 kids you can listen to the mile-a-minute presentations in 1-2 classrooms before being hurried back out into the evening air. Not that I’m looking for a long drawn out affair, but why bother to go through all the hub bub and then not even allow the teachers enough time to say what they want to say? They always end up running out of time and looking so harried. One of the teachers even kicked her shoes off the minute it ended and looked like she desperately wanted a cocktail. So did I, so I gathered a group of friends and went out to get one. Or two. But who’s counting?
This afternoon, I’m headed to (guess) the school for my group’s first environmental club meeting of the year. Me, one teacher, (hopefully) 3 other parent helpers, and 25 kids doing a school’s worth of recycling projects in 45 minutes. It will be a whirlwind, but it’s always a feel good kind of meeting. At least at this point in the year, when the kids are still eager, and their parents are still willing to help out. Speaking from experience, come May it will be me, maybe one teacher, and about 20 kids running wild all over the school, with a little recycling happening on the side. I’ll try to enjoy the good meetings while they last!
That’s all folks. Why don’t you go off and recycle something, huh? It’s what all the cool kids are doing these days.
Comments (4)
A random parent and I were talking at the Back to School event last night–being effectively shut out of the presentation in the gym because there wasn’t enough room for all the parents who showed up–and we realized that we really only come to see the notes the kids leave us and to write one back. My first grader didn’t even leave a note for me this year. (Maybe it was too much for the teacher to have 37 first graders write notes to their parents?) I felt extremely ripped off. Back to School Night is pretty much a ripoff anyway, I think.
Now I have to find something to recycle.
@madhousewife - Have your daughter write you a note at home, and then instead of responding you can recycle it.
@turningreen - You’re a genius!
I recycled almost all the materials from the class I taught today… now I just need to finish my beverage (Sobe Lifewater) and recycle that empty bottle and head home… weekend here I come!