Entry # 19:
The Big Gigantic Hole
The bus rolled to a stop in front of the school at 7:00 a.m. on the dot.
"Oh my God, there's a rainbow on the side of the bus you know what
THAT means," gasped a homophobic preteen. I turned to hear a group
of parents giggling about something else. One parent leaned over to me and
whispered, "you know, Dr. Kahl, the biggest concern the girls have
is who is going to be on their period this trip!" followed by more
laughter. We loaded our gear down below, and 6 adults and 40 7th and 8th
graders waved goodbye to the happiest looking group of parents I'd seen
in a long time.
So began our journey to the Big Gigantic Hole, also known as the Grand Canyon.
Since most of my time is spent doing very unpleasant things with and to
children (discipline being the biggest time taker) I decided that I needed
to take this trip with the kids to remind me of why I went into this business
in the first place. It was one of the best decisions I made all year.
At first, the kids and I kept our distance from one another. Since these
were all California Junior Scholarship Federation members, I knew very few
of them by name. They looked at me with sideways glances that said, "I
think she is here to ruin all of my fun." I enjoyed the several hours
on the bus, as my first taste of virtually uninterrupted reading time in
almost a year.
We arrived at the first hotel, which was sort of a "Dude Ranch."
We were treated to a hay ride with a cowboy singing tunes that none of the
kids knew, but the adults just loved. We enjoyed a fabulous barbeque dinner,
with delicious beans. The students were horrified. "Oh my God! We are
all eating beans and we have to share a room tonight!" Middle school
kids focus on the funniest things
That first night, we did our final room check and put Scotch Tape on all
of their room doors so that we would know in the morning if any had been
opened. My room was right next door to five 8th grade boys. Through paper
thin walls, I could hear just about everything they had to say. At 2:00
a.m. I padded over in my jammies, pounded on the door and told them I needed
my beauty sleep.
The rest of the trip went pretty much the same. Long bus rides, tours, busy
from 7:00 a.m. until lights out at 10:00 p.m. We suffered through vomiting
hysteria on the bus, which was actually pretty funny. We laughed when a
group of girls was terrified by the sparks in their bed sheets from the
static electricity. We watched as the students gazed with wonder at the
Big Gigantic Hole. We all learned so much about science, history, geography,
and mostly, each other.
After we returned home, several students' parents let me know that their
child was pleasantly surprised to find that I was "nice." I discovered
that I like being nice, and I like not having to be the disciplinarian all
of the time. Most importantly, I was reminded of how much I truly like being
around middle school kids.
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