Defacing School Property...And Proud of It

This year I am working part time as the assistant director over the elementary school at my children's charter school. Nine years ago I walked away from BYU with my master's degree in administration and swore I would never touch it again. My internship had been a lesson in discouragement and frustration for me. Administration seemed to be everything I hated about public education without all the wonder and joy I loved about it. As an administrator, you don't always see what is going right. Instead, you problem solve, put out fires, and deal with everything going wrong. No school is exempt. It is the nature of the beast and I was easily able to accept that this was one of the cons of this profession and if I ever wanted to be an administrator, this was the reality.


And so I chose to never do it again.


Until this summer. Really...never say never.


I LOVE my children's school. I LOVE the teachers & instructors at this school. They are remarkable men and women and I feel blessed to the core to have them as my children's teachers. Each of them that have taught my kids have had a significant and meaningful impact on them...not just academically, but emotionally and socially. My kids are smart and capable and love school...a true credit to these individuals and the way they execute their craft. So when the director approached me about this opportunity, I promptly told him no. And then no again. Then I said yes, worked for a day, and told him no again. And then I said yes...because I love these educators and felt that if I truly had any ability to support, love and nurture them, then I would give what I had.


But the rat race has begun. You would be shocked at what the children in our society endure. I don't care where you live...I live in "happy valley" and have seen more horrific things here than I thought possible. School started at the end of August and I have already suspended a student, dealt with severe bullying issues, sexual abuse cases, and called the Department of Family and Child Services way more than I'm comfortable with. And I don't live in the inner city. I work at a school in a very middle class community. I work at a CHARTER school! (Sorry if this destroys anyone's image of the charter schools being for a "certain" type of student.)


Today I spent the day dealing with parents and children that were very difficult and I am so tired...not just physically but emotionally. Towards the end of the day, I walked into one of our 1st grade classrooms and asked the teacher to show me something positive and happy. And she promptly showed me a beautiful project that she had done with her first graders that involved some rather complex cutting and gluing and she was so proud that her little kids had been able to handle this "advanced" assignment. And then her instructor told me how she had taken the girls to the bathroom that afternoon and how they had taken so, so long in the bathroom, that she finally went in to see what the problem was. She discovered the girls all huddling in the middle of bathroom taking turns using 3 of the available 6 stalls. When she asked what the problem was with the other stalls, the girls told her that one had a broken lock, one was haunted by vampires, and one had a dirty word written on the wall. The instructor went in to see what this dirty word was and discovered that someone had etched the word "hell" into the metal wall. She gently explained to the first graders that someone had tried to leave them a friendly message but must have been in a big hurry and forgotten the "O" at the end of the word. She commented to me that it was a shame that vampires, broken locks, and dirty words were creating such havoc in the bathroom. And right then I knew what I had to do. I could solve this problem...I could handle this. I could totally handle this!! I told the 2 teachers to hold on for a second and I would be right back. I walked into the bathroom, strolled into the last stall, locked the stall door, looked around for security cameras, took out my office key and carved a big ole' "O" at the end of HELL. And just like that, hell became hello and suddenly the world seemed right again. And tomorrow the stall that is hunted by vampires is going to be decked out, every inch of it, with Disney princess stickers. Ha! Take that vampires.


And sometimes it just takes a simple "O" to turn hell into something much more friendly and happy. Carving into a metal bathroom stall and seeing cows glued to green construction paper made me happy and solved a simple problem. I felt like I could go just a little bit farther.


And never underestimate the power of wonderful friends and a really good laugh.


And so I will go to bed tonight and sleep really long and wake up tomorrow and go back to school. Something keeps taking me back. And when I get really discouraged and overwhelmed, I'll go sit in that bathroom stall in the downstairs bathroom for a little while and let the princesses and my big "O" take away the frustration.


If you need a place to take a break and regroup, let me know. I think I've created the perfect place.