Hey Craig, even though it snowed last night and this morning, it didn't stop the kids from acting like goof-balls.
When I arrived at school, about 10 minutes later than usual because of traffic and snow, I had instructed a kid in my class who is severely autistic (and non verbal also) to put his stuff away. No later than after he does that, two guys were arguing down the hallway. One of the guys was saying something to the other when the other kid pushed him against a locker and said "F--- you! Moments like this are when you really piss me off!". The two guys proceeded into their first period class arguing. I stared at these guys, just thinking about that nonsense that just happened. Then I went to my 1st period class, my homeroom, Room 124.
At 8:30, the bell rung, so I went to my second period class which was English, on the third floor in Room 313. No more I come up the stairs, at least four girls are talking about fighting another girl after school. I thought I heard one girl mention that she was going to hit the other girl in the head with a curl iron. Again, all I could think to myself is the nonsense.
In English, the typical argument broke out between a girl and a guy about who's uglier I guess. They probably like each other, at least that's an only answer I could think of as into why they keep up with this arguing of theirs. Personally, I think the girl is sort of pretty, but I won't go into detail, lol. Then we all did our work. One guy got excited when the teacher announced she was going to be absent for school related reasons. She told him "Don't get too excited,". I just shrugged to myself since I'm not going to be there tomorrow (since there's a field trip for my class tomorrow), so I don't have to deal with no nonsense.
The bell rung again. It was 9:21am. I walked out of the classroom (after informing the teacher that I wasn't going to be there tomorrow so I could make up my work on Wednesday) to discover two girls arguing over something. I couldn't catch exact words on this argument, but they were yelling and screaming at each other. I observed one concerned kid run down the hallway to inform security of this. Apparently, the two girls had started to fight, because by the time I got back to the first floor, at least four security guards were running up the stairs along with a police officer. I didn't stay to get more details since I didn't want to be labeled as someone who's in everyone's business and I had a class to attend, which was Division.
Division ended at 9:40am. I walked out into the hallway to get my stuff for my next class, which was computers in 327. As soon as I was done getting my stuff, I turned around to see a boy in handcuffs, with two police officers, a security guard and dean of students talking to him. Again, I didn't stay on scene.
I arrived at computers about a minute later. Nothing really exciting occurred in this class. Maybe except for the boy who fell out of his chair after spinning around in it (he was done with his work, but the teacher had told him MULTIPLE times not to spin around in his chair and to do something besides just talking).
At 10:30am, the bell rung. I went to my 4th period class (Spanish), which is on the east side of the Police Room. Since I was with my Autistic peers and they know how to act, I will not comment on them since they didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
45 minutes of that class went by. The bung rung at around 11:20am. I had lunch at this time, so I rushed to get my lunch out of my backpack and to head to the lunchroom. Other then waiting nearly 10 minutes for the line to actually start moving and clearing, nothing really happened, except for two boys who started to argue in the lunchroom. The argument turned psychically. One boy started shoving the other one to the ground and beat the crud out of him. This got the attention of everyone in the room. Almost every kid in the lunchroom stood up and watched the fight. Some people even gasped. Other than the three girls cheering on one of the guys, nobody went crazy with applause and cheers. They just watched.
One of my teachers told one of the security guards nearby of this situation. The security guard came almost instantly. She stepped in between the boys, separating them. She put one of them against a table while she held on to the other one. She called for another nearby security guard to help her escort these two boys to the Police Room I'm guessing. Everyone just went back to eating and conversation. It was a bit funny watching this happen almost out of nowhere, since it came to my attention when the gasps came.
I finished my lunch, went back to class with my friends from class and went to gym with them. Nothing happened in gym.
Now it was 1pm and I couldn't wait for my day to be over, since I had did some hard stuff in gym. I went back downstairs to get my stuff for Algebra class in 320. I did that and reported to class. Nothing too much happened in there besides the usual talking.
The bell rung at 1:50pm. I went back downstairs to my final class of the day, which was back in 124. I was happy to be with my friends in this class. We had the usual group discussion (today we talked about our field trip tomorrow) then we went home, and now I'm here typing this.
Thanks,
- Timmy AKA Sullivan HS Kid
24 comments:
Timmy, it sounds like you've got some good observational skills. You should write for the school newspaper. Thanks for sharing this glimpse of a few hours at Sullivan High.
It also sounds like there are many actors on the scene providing (non-educational) entertainment, in fact enough actors to fill a school drama class.
Maybe that's one solution to the school's daily outbreaks of mayhem - drama as a constructive outlet to channel the energies of those who currently give spontaneous performances to the applause and cheers of their peers.
Man, what a scene. And this is all in the course of one day??? WTF? I think when I was in school there was maybe one actual fist fight a YEAR, and this was at a high school on the South Side in a decent-to-rough neighborhood. How the hell can you learn anything there?
wow. why are these conditions acceptable?
what is rev. meeks going to do about this?
i hope daley's lackeys don't jack up this kid's parents' property taxes or put an inadvertent boot on their vehicles or some other such shenanigans.
Sounds like a typical day when I attended Austin High School (which is now permanently closed) for a semester in 1975.
Sullivan wasn't that bad when I first moved into the neighborhood in 1982. It wasn't totally free of drama, but it wasn't nearly as rough as it sounds now.
Timmy, just keep focusing on your education and avoid those other students who don't seem to care about their futures.
shouldn't this kid be doing schoolwork rather than blogging?
Hey, T.H.M., your comment about Timmy hunkering down on his schoolwork instead of blogging made me laugh. That's the kind of remark I might say to my own children ... if they were not doing well in school.
We have to consider that today blogging has become more than just a vehicle for expression, for writing, or merely another form of communication. It is the New Journalism! Timmy may be headed for great accomplishments in the future with such a start as this.
I praise Timmy's effort. I recall that I got an important start on engaging real world issues while writing for my high school newspaper at Chicago's Kenwood Academy in Hyde Park. I was regularly earned all the A's in my classes that I needed to stay in the newspaper club. So far, Timmy's fastidious reportage on this blog and on his own blog suggest that he is already a good student. I bet his parents are very proud indeed.
Almost sounds like my old high school on another part of town but many years ago!
T.H.M. = AKA Brettly, the Red Line Tap janitor and out-of-key guitar strummer for the band called Brown-eye.
Also owner of two blogs under google review, due to possible Blogger Terms of Service violations.
In reply to T.H.M: I have a name. I also did my schoolwork. This was written after I got home (didn't have any homework since I had finished it in school).
I also got started by working as a feature, opinion and sports writer as well as photographer for my own high school newspaper. That being said, I still had more than enough time to devote to school work at that time in my life.
To suggest that what Timmy is doing is somehow a waste of time is petty and ridiculous.
In reply to Micheal: Thanks for the complient and the encourgement. As for writing for the news paper, maybe I will next year. I don't want to get involved right now because i've only been at Sullivan going on three months now and still observing everyone. Also, I agree with you, the kids that I observed are good enough for drama class. Finally, I wish I had two parents, but i'm doing fine with just one.
In reply to Man On The Street: Yep, it all happened in one day. You think that's bad, you should see what happens in a week there. As for learning anything there, the kids are pretty calm in my classes, but that might only because i'm there, possibly. Might not be though.
In reply to Boxing Tomboy: I will continue to focus on my education and avoid those bad students.
I want to thank everyone for there comments and complients. You guys are truly decent people.
In replying to T.H.M., the SullivanHighSchoolKid demanded respect by asserting this, "I have a name."
Ouch! In words I learned a while back from my own kids, blogger T.H.M. just "got treated!" Very subtle and smooth, Timmy. A measured ass whupping indeed.
I can't say that I'm buying that all this happened in one day. Then again, there's only one account of actual physical harm, (which, our observer tells us, "was a bit funny." Really?) and several instances of being loud and obnoxious. I'll reserve judgment.
And while I applaud the journalistic effort, I am aghast at the language skills of this high school student.
"No later than after he does that..."
"At 8:30, the bell rung..."
"No more I come up the stairs..."
"Again, all I could think to myself is the nonsense."
"...at least that's an only answer I could think of..."
"The bell rung again..."
"At 10:30am, the bell rung." (RANG! For cripes sake! RANG!)
"The argument turned psychically."
"...since I had did some hard stuff in gym."
(I think there were a couple more "rungs" in there.)
Keep up the writing, dude, but pay more attention in English class.
In reply to jeff in chicago: You don't have to buy anything I say. However, what I wrote is true and it all did take place in one day (imagine what could happen in a week). As for the fight, I found it a bit funny because of everyone who gasped (if it's werid, I guess i'm just werid that way). That wasn't excepted.
I've said before I didn't have "prefect language", but i'm pretty close to it. You should see how some of those kids type. They type MUCH worser than I do. You also forget that i'm disabled and therefore will never have "perfect" english. I also think my words were good enough and if you don't like it, i'm sorry, but i'm not changing it for you.
At least i'm typing somewhat proper. No, there were no "a couple of more 'rungs in there'". One bell rings every 45 minutes and another one rings 4 minutes after that if you're tardy.
I'll have you know that I payed lots of attention in English class. I didn't think about the non sense THAT much. No non sense is worth thinking about in English.
Timmy seems like a fine writer, Jeff, but he just needs to review and edit for errors.
And I feel for you, Timmy, as you try to learn in those conditions at Sullivan. Far too many extracurricular activities going on there all day!
Timmy,
Thank you for sharing. I am glad you are learning despite the mayhem around you.
Please continue to write, for others or yourself. You are eloquent for your age, despite some minor grammar errors which are inconsequential. I work with students of all ages and you express yourself very well. Your message certainly came through.
Please keep us updated on your progress.
Thanks for the tip, Scott, I will do that next time.
In reply to NOR: You're quite welcome. I will be providing another update next week, so stick around.
Great job, Timmy! Keep up the good work!
Tim: I didn't think I was being all that harsh. I only said it seemed odd that so many things could have happened in one day. That surely reflects my growing up years ago in small-town Ohio. I never said it didn't happen.
Additionally, there was no way for me to know that you are disabled. Nothing in the report indicates that. You mention a classmate with autism, but there was no reason for me to infer that you have some disability. I still don't know if your issue is physical or cognitive.
If cognitive, then I have less of a problem with your grammar. I will, as I did in my first post, encourage you to keep writing. I will also point out something I learned working as a newspaper editor for 15 years: Many of the best reporters can't write for crap! What they do well is observe events and ask good questions. There work then goes to an editor who cleans it up.
Lastly, I meant that you used the word "rung" two more times that I didn't specifically mention. Please just make rang/rung your grammar lesson of the day and consider me your crusty (but friendly) editor who truly wants your work to be better.
Hope the field trip was fun!
Good work, Timmy. It's kids like you that give me hope for my little boy. And Jeff: you're a toolbox. Sullivan HS student, 15 years old, Autistic and his blogging is very coherent = priceless in today's day and age.
In reply to jeff in chicago: It's on my profile. I guess you didn't read my profile but that's okay. As for my disability, I may have both pyshical and cognitive, but i'm not too sure about that. Finally, the field trip was pretty good, could have been better.
Hey Timmy, Blogger offers SPELLCHECK
Uhhmmmm-what was the original point:
life at Sully or Timmy's burgeoning reportage skills and grammar?
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