Entry #11 - Nov. 16, 1998
"We don't think the perpetrators were students from our school.
While we have some loudmouths and some trouble makers, there are really
only one or two kids in the whole school who are potentially malicious towards
staff and other students."
Triskaidekaphobia? Not me. I've always brushed off the Friday-the-thirteenth
jokes. Until now, that is. It was not at all funny to leave school Friday
after organizing work for next week, loaded down with impedimenta, and head
out to the parking lot to find....my car had been stolen!
Stifling the urge to panic (here I am, in the dark, with dropping temperatures,
no way back into the school, NO money or ID. -- I leave all of that in the
car so it won't be stolen! -- and 50 miles from home! I pounded on the doors
of the school, knowing the janitors were still in there -- and finally one
came to the door and saw me. He was aghast at the news, as he had not observed
any strangers on the property, and let me into the office to call the police.
Thankfully, our principal and vice-principal were also still there. Once
I knew I would not be stranded on the street for the night I was, if not
happy, at least functional.
It turned out the police already had the car -- several blocks from the
school -- where it had taken out a bus shelter and several other vehicles
before being abandoned by two juveniles who fled on foot. They had pried
the door open with a crowbar and dismantled the ignition, then emptied most
of the contents (mostly junk to other people -- dog training stuff, "teacher"
stuff, dog kennels and assorted papers -- but miraculously passed up my
billfold with drivers' license, credit card and other ID plus $200 in cash,
which had been in sight in a little crevice in the dashboard. Whew!
Upsetting as it all was, I had to reflect I was pretty fortunate: the damage
can be repaired, most of the expense will be covered by insurance, and even
more important, the intended inhabitants of the stolen dog crate had been
safe with me inside (I think if anything had happened to one of the dogs
I would have REALLY freaked). Why the thieves took the newspapers, magazines
and sorted mail I picked up from the post office I'll never know... but
at least I still had my license and could rent a car to drive home.
Our principal scrounged some money from the parent council cookie tin for
me, lest I be penniless on the way (before we knew the culprits had missed
the jackpot), and the vice principal drove me over to the accident scene
while I checked in with the police and then to the rental car place. They
were both super: calm, supportive, and focused on solving the immediate
problem of getting me home safely.
We don't think the perpetrators were students from our school. While we
have some loudmouths and some trouble makers, there are really only one
or two kids in the whole school who are potentially malicious towards staff
and other students. And I don't usually attract that kind of malice anyway,
perhaps because I am not a homeroom teacher, and I have "goodies"
that students want to play with -- my visiting Therapy Pets, a nifty computer
with a new scanner -- and of course, she who owns the toys makes the rules!
Some of my kids may have information on who the thieves were, though. I
will have to wait till next week to find out. If someone can help me recover
some of the missing dog equipment, that would be much appreciated: I suspect
the villains just dumped it somewhere, not far away -- police did not think
they were in the car very long. I guess I will go back to my usual practice
of parking on the street (I was only in the lot because I brought my scanner
in earlier and didn't want to carry it a long way). Ours is not a high-crime
neighborhood, but car theft is a problem everywhere. In my previous school
too, several teachers had cars stolen.
Anyway, compared to that nadir of an experience, the rest of the week was
uneventful. I finished off my IEP's and started organizing our next reading
units. We have a community meeting coming up again Monday to keep the heat
on about the school closure: nobody really believes that the
stay of execution is more than a political ploy. The initial discussion
will be on letter-writing campaigns and so on, but I am hoping we can use
the groundswell of community support and concern to forge a vision for the
future and an overall plan to move the school forward, not just to salvage
it from the auction block. When push comes to shove, there really IS a lot
of goodwill and commitment in the community: our task will be to harness
it and turn this potential disaster into constructive and lasting change.
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