Bathroom Talk

Unfortunately at school we do not have a staff bathroom. As a result, I often hear a lot of juicy info when I am using the restroom. Occasionally, I will add to the conversations that are going on between girls without revealing that it is me. Today, I decided to have a little fun with two girls. I d0n't know what they were talking about but in the middle of their conversation I blurted out, "Could you keep it down, I am trying to concentrate here." Silence. Then one girl said with a little bit of attitude, "If you need to concentrate in there you got problems." Silence. She then continued, "Who is in there anyway?" Much to my delight I answered, "Ms. Leonard." I love the shock and the change in attitude that occurs instantly. It was pretty funny.

I had another funny and shocking experience but this did not occur in the bathroom. My geography classes are designing McDonalds in either a Latin American or European c0untry. Part of the project is developing a new menu with 10 items that are named after either a person, place, or event that is significant to the country they are researching. One girl was quite frustrated with this process because she had typed in Google, "Famous People in Italy" and it kept bringing up the name, Christopher Columbus. Finally, she called me over and said, "I keep getting this name, Christopher Columbus, who is he?" Shock instantly spread to my face and I said, "Remember the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Marie. Columbus sailed and 'discovered' the new world, the Americas." Without any look of recognition she simply said, "Oh, okay." Wow, are you kidding me. I know she has been taught about Christopher Columbus but I wonder why she was unable to retain that information.

What needs are met when you are married? Physical!

In my health class I am teaching about mental and emotional health. Part of the curriculum is Maslow's Hierarchy. For those that don't know what this is, it is certain needs that every human must meet in order to have a good mental and emotional health. So, the first need is physiological needs; food, water, sleep, etc. Then there are safety needs followed by the need to belong. After that there is the need for recognition. Finally, there is the need to reach one's own potential or self actualization. I was giving my students some real life scenarios and they would then identify which need was being met. One scenario was marriage. The answer is the need to belong or love that is being met. However, when I asked what need was being met one young man said, "Physical". Everyone started laughing but him. He sat there and pondered what he had just said and then quickly added, "You guys have dirty minds." It was pretty funny.

In bed by 8:40 pm

What is there to do on a Friday night...well, for me it was going to bed at 8:40. This has been a crazy week for me. Due to the weather, we had to make up a track meet this week. So, we had a track meet Monday, Tuesday and Saturday. I am also in the middle of a huge geography project that by the time I finish will have required 12 after school hours. Thankfully, I am on the tail end of the project and track. So, by the time Friday rolled around I was pretty tired. I ate dinner at a school function, came home, and went to bed.

Then I was up at 6:30 am to get ready for another track meet and to run a 5k. Some students from my school organized a 5k to raise money to help the family of Destin Towse, who passed away in December, with the medical bills. There were about 40 people there including Destin's family. I had four track kids run it with me, then we quickly changed and went to join the rest of the team at the track meet. We only have two meets left and then state. I worked about 65hrs. this week. I know to those who are parents this is nothing but to me it was tiring.

Here are some pictures of some of my athletes.

L to R: Kayla (who really does have arms), Chance, Alee, Molley, and Sam

High Jumper, Nathan Stone. I am the ninja in the red fleece!

Track Team (One of the coaches, Scott, just won the master mile at the Drake Relays with a time of 4:25. He also won nationals in March in the 1600m and 800m. None of our kids can keep up with him. I believe he is 45 and is amazing!)

Thrower, Michael Keever. He is one of the smallest but also one of the best.

April has been one busy month for me. On April 10th, I flew to Utah for a friend, Sandra's, birthday. I also did something that weekend that I have never done before...drugs. Just kidding, I played Rock Band. I learned that playing the guitar, drums and singing are not a hidden talent that I just need to develop. In fact, some would probably ask me not to develop those talents at all. I wasn't very good but it was fun. I also got to have lunch with my two other friends Nikki and Joni.

L to R: Joni, Nikki, Sandra, me

Also in April, I had my first every school closure due to rain. Our superintendent actually closed school because the forecast was 1 to 2ft. of snow, but all we got was rain. It was a much needed break!

I only have 16 more days of school. It is amazing how fast it is going. I am not sure I mentioned in my blog about my plans for next year. In Feb., I was accepted into the University of Wyoming Counselor Education program. So, starting in June I will be working on my masters to become a guidance counselor. I decided to go full time in the fall so this is my last year of teaching. I am really looking forward to this new adventure.

Spring Cleaning

I am trying to get rid of stuff early for my move in August. I was going through a box and I came across the first board I broke in my Taekwondo class. Do you think it is stupid to hang on to something like this? The reality of it is that it is $10 pine wood from Home Depot. Should I keep it or place it to rest in my apartment dumpster?

An old fashion Sunday stroll

Today it was 74 degrees. There was little wind and the sun was shining. Today was also stake conference for me. Since I figured the parking lot would be full and I only live a mile away I decided to walk. As I was walking I thought, "why don't I do this every Sunday?" It was so nice and relaxing. It also made think about how "easy" our lives have become. I read a story from the last General Relief Society meeting about members of the church from Central America that spent five days traveling to Arizona to attend the Temple. Many of them made great sacrifices to attend. During a talk today, a story from Sister Pinegree was retold. While her husband was a mission president there were two Relief Society sisters in Nigeria, I think, that walked eighteen miles to renew their Temple recommends even though they never planned to use them since the nearest temple was in South Africa and they could not afford to go. I couldn't help but ask myself if I would do the same. Or would I walk over a thousand miles to a new home to be obedient to the Lord's call. I sure hope I would. Perhaps my two miles today is a start so that I can walk any distance the Lord would require of me. It is amazing the cognitive exercise that can be influenced by an old fashion Sunday stroll.

What type of blood is needed for the job?

Sometimes at school we are asked to give up our plan period to fill in for a teacher that is going to be absent. Last week I was asked to sub in our Ag Science class. Since I know absolutely nothing on the subject, the teacher had the students research two Ag jobs on the Internet. The students were to answer four questions, like income and required education. I decided to spice up the class so I told students there were five questions and one of them was to find "what blood type was required for the job." Not one student questioned me on that. Instead, they all looked for the answer. After a few minutes hands started to go up and students started telling me they looked everywhere but they could not find out what blood type was needed for the job. Needless, to say I didn't mind subbing so much that day.

Just a scratch on my arm

On Tuesday, there was an assembly for all sophomores. Since I am the health teacher, I was put in charge of setting up the date for Weld County's PARTY program to come and speak to students about safe driving. So, I also got to participate in the assembly. "Party" is an acronym but I don't remember what it stands for. The program had two survivors from car wrecks speak along with a sheriff, dispatcher, and trauma nurse. They also had booth set up for kids to feel what it is like to be put on a body board, or to learn what happens when you are a trauma patient. They also had the popular "drunk goggles" and had kids do easy things like walk a line, pick up their keys and play catch. It was quite comical. I tried walking the line and picking up my keys and just like the kids I was unsuccessful with the drunk goggles. Anyway, I had a girl come into my classroom yesterday and tell me that this program really made her think about things like always putting on her seat belt. Great, right? Then she said to me, "But if I am ever in a bad car wreck, I don't want anything bad to happen. I only want like a little scratch...maybe on my arm. That would be all I want. I don't want anything else." I don't think she quite understands that you can't pre-order your injuries in a car accident.