Well last time I let go about all the things that have been happening since the last time I posted. I decided to try to be better at it this time around. Driving kids to school should make for some interesting stories, how could you make that up when actual kids come up with the most alarming and amazing things.

My first group of students every day goes to the new high school in our district. They did a really cool thing with this school, when they opened it last year, it only had Sophomores and Freshmen attending. They didn’t want to drag Juniors and Seniors out of a school they had already started in. This year, we added Juniors, but they were last years Sophomores, and then a new class of 9th graders/Freshmen started. So I have this smallish group numbering at around 40 students I drive to school each morning, and take them home in the afternoon. All in all a nice group of kids, and I have no complaints with them. I did overhear a pretty good story today. A Junior boy and a Sophomore girl were talking about skipping classes/ calling in sick for school. I already knew this, but a student can not call themselves in as absent. The boy found this a bit annoying since he will be 18 over the summer and even though he plans on going to school next year, he wants to just show up long enough to turn in his homework, then cut the rest of the class. He’s upset because he can not call himself in next year, even though he will be “of age” this summer. He informed the kids around him that he would be getting his own place this summer after he turned 18. He will have his own place, and attend school on his terms. I’m thinking he has no clue about real life.
First off, there are no apartments in the area for him to rent to remain in this particular school. He would be out of the schools limits. Then there is the thing about paying the rent, a car, insurance, food, utilities and all the other wonderful expenses we all know about. On top of having to get a job to pay for all this, he still thinks he will be going to school full time, and kicking back like he does now. Oh I wish I could be a fly on the wall when he figures out it’s not as easy as it sounds. Oh to be young and stupid again!

Now my second group of kids…. yep you guessed it, the middle schoolers! Now this bus load of kids have a whole different set of issues. First off, my bus only holds 72 students, and up till this afternoon we were at 69 and holding. As I had heard and feared, some of them that were being taken by mom last week are now full time riders. So if they all show up, we are talking 86 kids. I’m so thrilled, nothing better than a bus full of sweating middle school students. The last stop on this route is where the massive explosion takes place. I pulled up there the first day and there were 60 kids standing there. I about died! Well, I hit the limit today, if one more kid had tried to get on the bus, I would have had to get an overload bus to come help me. There was a great deal of “bitching” going on last week since they were packed in there like sardines, but giving them all assigned seats really helped the situation. Even though they might have a butt cheek hanging off the seat edge, its their seat to hang off of, and no one is going to take it away from them. I have this 6th grade girl that sits in the 3row back from me, her 2 best friends sit with er, and her other best friend sat in the seat across the aisle, with 2, 7th grade boys. Well, we got another student on the bus on Friday, and he speaks no English. He is from Vietnam, and it’s very difficult for me to get across to him that he has to sit in a different seat, so to make it easier all the way around I moved the other little girl. she however does not want to be away from her friends, so today on the way home I had her sitting in the seat right behind me. Now on a side story here, she actually enjoyed that because she could scootch down in her seat, and watch everyone from my kid mirror. Well the queen bee in that 3rd row informed me that SHE was not happy that her gang of girls were split up, and that if this continued SHE would find another way to school. I looked up at her and said ” And this will make me unhappy WHY???” “Knock yourself out,  find a different way to school, I’m totally surprised you have not done that already” Here give me your home phone number, and I’ll call your parents tonight when I get back in and we can discuss it, so they know YOU will not be riding the bus any longer.” She turned a funny shade of green, not becoming to her hair color at all, and shut up. Guess her folks don’t realize what a princess she thinks she is. I also think this is not a phone call she really wants me to make, even if she does not give me her number, like I work for the district, I have access to the kids personal files to get said information.  Once again I wish I was that stupid!

Now for the little darlings that make up my Elementary School bus. On the whole not a bad group of kids. I have this one little girl that’s in 1st grade that sits in the front seat. She is doing really well by herself, but is sort of lonely. I had a 4th grade girl that is new to the school, sit with her, so they could keep each other company. Now they are best friends, the 4th grader actually get to the bus first, to sit in the front seat to share it with her “little buddy”. Now I even have 2 1st graders sitting there and the 4th grader is still keeping them company. It’s really very sweet. I have some on the bus that are going to be problems, I can already see it coming. tomorrow, they get their assigned seats, as do the High Schoolers.

The transportation office told me today, that they are going to take one of my middle school stops away from me, I told them better to take the 1st 2 away since they are in the same area, and you have to pass 1 to get to the other, and we are only talking 15 students total. I think that will help in the long run, it will most assuradly lighten the load on my bus, and with winter coming and big fat coats, there will be a bit more room. Still going to be crowded, but it will be better.