Spring Break

We've been on Spring Break the past week, not that you'd know it by the weather. I don't think it's been above 45 all week! But here's a quick recap. 1. We got a new car!!! We traded in Chris' truck, which wasn't extended cab (meaning there was no way for a car seat to go in there) and got a 2010 Pontiac G6. It's silver and sporty and best of all.... now we have 2 vehicles in which we can take Zach! Plus, this way Chris can now pick up Zach from day care when I get held up at work (more on that later). 2. Zach got his 3rd hair cut. He still hates it... screams, cries, snot flies; overall it's not a pretty process. I'm toying with the idea of either A.) just letting his curls grow and politely correcting people when they think he's a girl, or B.) cutting it in his sleep and trying to keep it even. Somehow I don't think Chris will go for either of those ideas, so we'll be back to Great Clips in another month or so... 3. We took Zach and Kaylan to Chuck E. Cheese. They loved it. I remember it as being more fun and less work when I was a kid. I suppose that's the story of parenthood... 4. So right before we went on break, I had a big meeting at work with our superintendant, assistant superintendant, principal, and director of technology to discuss expanding my alternative program. This is my 5th year since I started the program with little more than a vague of idea of what I should be doing. In those 5 years, I've helped over 100 kids earn their diploma - and in all honesty I'd say that 90+ wouldn't have finished school otherwise. What I've found is that many of them are behind academically which makes traditional school frustrating, but I've also had many with mental illness (like anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, etc.) that make school almost impossible, and then there's a whole group that just have the worst home lives imaginable. The result of our big pow-wow was that they want to double the number of students enrolled and hire another person to facilitate those students in another classroom. We're also looking at offering a special class 3 days a week in the evenings, taught by a part time instructional assistant, for adults that have previously dropped out. While I'll still be in the classroom most of the time, I'll have more of an administrative role in terms of selecting students for admission, paperwork, discipline, etc. I'm excited about the opportunity, especially since they're pretty much giving me free reign on how I want to set everything up! So keep your fingers crossed for me, since I'll spend the rest of this year doing organizational stuff - and we'll start next year!