The Ball

I went to the 7th and 8th grade ball last night with Meredith. I laughed the whole night. The kids got all dressed up-- the girls wore prom dresses and the boys wore tuxes, the greatest tuxes I've ever seen. Most of the tuxes were white, but there were a couple of purple ones I really liked. And the shoes. Where do they find their outfits? The boys got to braid their hair, and the girls had "sculptures" on their heads as Jess put it. And they wore sunglasses in every color. It was magical. Meredith and I spent the first hour taking everyone's picture. My favorite moment was when two of our 8th grade boys, who are brothers and really couldn't be any different, started doing a coordinated dance together. I know they practice at home together, which is just hysterical.

New Job

I went to the Jackson job fair last Saturday and got a job at Jim Hill—my #1 choice! I was so excited. They were my last school to interview with because they didn’t have any job listings for math teachers, but I wanted to try anyways. I got such a great feeling from the principal, who promises to be blunt and asks that I always be honest with her as well. I told her I had heard so many great things about her and the school. When I told her I was with Teacher Corps, she said, “Oh that’s how you know about my school—my hippy boys!” We’re going to have such a good time at that school.

In other fantastic news, we found a house for the summer, a four bedroom house for 7 or 8 of us. It will be awesome. I can’t wait for the summer now. I’m even excited about teaching, now that I know it’s not for 7 hours a day. Just four more weeks of school!

Catfish Fair

If you don't already know, today is the day of the World Catfish Fair in Belzoni. All of my students are supposed to be there, all done up I'm sure. I'm on my way to Meredith's and then we're headed over.
I'm at the end of my spring break; we had the latest spring break out of any one. It was horrible waiting for it, but now I'm glad. Only 8 weeks left, with lots of testing in from here on out.
I am upset at the though of having to teach during the summer; I'm so burned out. My spring break really wasn't a break at all, I spent so much time on work for graduate school. I don't think we'll make a very good impression on the first years, we'll be so tired and bitter about having to do all the additional work (now, in the fall, and in the spring). I had dreams of getting to sleep in a little and wearing jeans everyday. I think we would benefit more from just getting recharged for the next school year.