Back in JAX

I arrived back in Jacksonville on Wednesday and, already, it's been an eventful few days.  The first day back at school was a nice transition.  Because our first day back was on a Thursday, we were only in school for one day before having our Friday at the office.  It was actually the perfect set up because it was a nice taste of real life before having a weekend to recover.  I make it sound so bad, but dealing with tons of ninth graders after having two weeks of peace and quiet can be overwhelming. The first few blocks were good, although I was reminded how frustrating my teacher can be.  A "rowdy student" walked in and before this student had a chance to do anything, my teacher just threw back his head and rolled his eyes. It was frustrating to watch because I knew this student didn't stand a chance. Luckily, all of the corps members got called out of class to hand out t-shirts in the afternoon, so we weren't even in class.

We were handing out tshirts because (drum roll please) JACKSON IS NOW A B SCHOOL! In Florida, the state grades schools based on letter grades, A being the highest and F being the lowest, just like in school. Previously, Jackson had not only been an F school, but it was the lowest performing high school in the state of Florida.  Then, over winter break, school grades were released and Jackson got a B!!! So exciting! I wish City Year could take credit for this, but this was based on last year's performance. The students and faculty were all excited.  I think that everyone has received enough grief for either teaching or attending Jackson in the past that they were beyond ready to defy the stereotypes.

In order to celebrate the school's new letter grade and rock the t-shirts, there was a pep rally on Friday with the whole school.  They brought in a DJ and the entire school and faculty to celebrate the occasion.  A news crew even came to check out the scene! The DJ made it a real party and there were lots of students dancing and having a ton of fun. One of my students, especially, was going wild.  He was dancing in the stands and just going crazy.  It was so funny to watch and he was having so much fun.  It was great, especially because he's one of the quieter ones in class, so to see his true personality come out was awesome. I'm so glad that we decided to go before work on Friday because it was a ton of fun and definitely well deserved.

 Joe, Adrienne and I stayed up waaaaaayyyy later than I've ever stayed up just hanging out and catching up on Friday night.  We called it our "debrief session" of the year so far.  City Year likes to debrief EVERYTHING which can sometimes be a little obnoxious.  Friday night was a lot of fun though because we just hung out and caught up.   Quinci comes back tonight and I don't think anyone is especially excited about it.  I mean, Quinci's great, but when he's here, it's all about Quinci.  Either that, or he's really negative and just brings everyone else down. I think we all realized how nice it was without him on Friday night and how different it would be if he had been there.  Oh well.  Maybe he's completely changed over break.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful.  Joe woke up on Saturday with the flu.  Adrienne took him to the emergency room because he wasn't feeling well.  We spent all afternoon on Saturday waiting for him to call and say he was ready to come home. Unfortunately, he was there for six hours!! Joe is already a kind of impatient person, so sick Joe was not having it.  I know he was sick, but his stories of the ER were hilarious. Apparently, there was a guy in room next to Joe who came in and ended up needed a prostate exam.  He had no idea what a prostate exam entailed until they got ready to perform the exam.  Joe overheard the conversation and was laughing so hard he went into coughing fit. Poor Joe Joe. I hope he feels better soon. And that I don't get the flu.

Oh and last thing.  My uncles in DC are fostering this adorable dog named CareBear (the name can be changed...).  The dog needs a permanent home and my uncles would love it if someone adopted CareBear soon.  If you are interested (especially if you live in DC/NOVA area) or know someone who is interested, let me know! CareBear was with us for Christmas and she was so sweet and extremely well behaved.  She got along with other dogs and a lot of people.  She was around teenagers and didn't have any issues.   You can let me know or you can follow this link with all of the contact information.  Either way, help out a very cute and loving dog who needs a good home!
http://staffordshirebullterrier.rescueme.org/DC?12-12-30-00060

Have a great week everyone!