A day in the life of a high school sophmore

Yesterday was take your parent to school day at my son's high school. He's a sophmore this year. He asked me if I'd go and of course, I said yes. How could I turn him down? The chance to spend a whole day just hanging out with my kid, even if it was at school sounded fun.

We get to the school and sign in at the office and wait til we can go to his homeroom. When we get there, other kids start to filter in and see me. None of their parents were with. One girl said she'd ask her mom, but "there was a warrant out for her arrest!" Sad. Sad. It was then time for standing for the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. Same as when I was in school, a million years ago. The bell rang and off we went to our first class of the day - CAD (Computer Aided Drafting). I felt like I was in another universe when Trevor pulled up the project he was working on and tried to explain it. His teacher came over and welcomed me to the class. My hubby worked with him at another job before he became a teacher, so we had that in common. Trevor was speaking Techno when describing what he was doing and I had no idea what was going on, so I pulled out my Droid and played on Facebook.

The bell rang and it was off to Geometry. The teacher said hello and that was the last word she spoke to me the entire class. I never took Geometry and never would. They took a test and she had the next assignment written on the board. Very little interaction. Maybe it was just my bleary mind. I must have nodded off a bit. Math was never a favorite subject of mine. I don't see the need to add A and B to get XYZ.

When the bell rang and we could escape the world of math, we went to the world of science and an entirely different teaching approach. The kids were working on a lab project that involved dissolving solids in liquids and monitoring their temperature changes. Once that was over, the teacher gave a few notes on the whiteboard and the class was over. It didn't seem to me that it had been over an hour. The teacher welcomed me to the class and explained every step they were taking. A total difference from the previous experience. I wasn't a big fan of science, but I honestly think I would have enjoyed taking her entire class.

It was back to the CAD room for his studyhall. He worked more on his project until it was time for lunch. FINALLY it was time to eat. The cooking class had a special meal prepared for parents. I was the only one we had seen all day. I was afraid it'd be just Trevor and me staring at each other, but one other mother had been able to take off lunch and was there with her son Luke. I've talked about Luke before. He's a good friend of Trevor's and we hang out with him as often as we can. His father was a very dear friend of mine who we lost, entirely too young. The meal was wonderful and the teacher spent the entire time talking to us. Another very warm and friendly teacher. The type we all want teaching our children. She cared and it was obvious.

Once the meal was over, Trevor had to go to his Engineering class. More techno talk that I couldn't understand, so I worked on my Facebook gaming skills again. :)

The final class of the day was Driver's Training. The class was treated to some very nasty, bloody commercials from England showing the horrors of texting or drinking while driving. What fun. I don't believe he even welcomed me. Ah well, he's a former gym teacher, so I didn't expect much. He did say good bye when the class was over and we were able to escape to go home.

The day was eye-opening about how school has changed since I was there. I graduated from that school as did my husband and mother. It's NOTHING like it was then. As the middle school principal said to me about the changes, "Some for the better and some not."

Tomorrow is senior parents' day to go. Of course, I'll be going. I'm sooo looking forward to Spanish. :( I hope a few more parents will be there. I think it's important to show our children we care, even when they're at an age where it's not quite as cool to have mommy or daddy around.