SUPERINTENDENT’S CHAT
Richard J. McClements,
Middle
School students are delightful and exhibit an engaging range of
personalities. At lunchtime, students
have less than 30 minutes to eat and play.
They eat by grade level (5-7) with 5th grade first. Most of the approximately 200 students in
each grade average about 10 minutes eating, and then they head for outside to
play in an area of 43,456 square feet. I
spent a few days watching each grade at recess and noticed the following:
· The youngsters are very territorial. The various groups all have an unwritten boundary that stays the same and is seldom entered by another group.
· Two kids were doing fake karate with kicks and the spinning.
· Nobody uses the paper bag or tin lunch boxes any more. Everyone has the insulated fabric type that keeps things hot or cool. Approximately 15 per lunch hour have them.
· Of course, few were wearing a coat. It often amazes me that anyone would want to be out in just a T-shirt in 40-degree weather. I’m wearing a sport coat and an overcoat, and I’m shivering. I guess that makes me a whimp.
· Two boys were horsing around. One had the other in a headlock and was rubbing his head with his knuckle. Their laughter reminds me of when I was a kid doing the same thing. I was never on the receiving end.
· Four girls are playing hopscotch.
· There are three different football games and three basketball games in progress. There are 6 to 8 players on each team. The football even includes a kickoff. According to staff, the team begins in 5th grade and pretty much remains intact through 7th. I saw passes just sailing over a girl’s head. One boy avoided a touch, fell, and must have skidded five feet on the asphalt. He had to be hurting; but since he’s a football player, he got right up and continued play. I later checked with the nurse. No, he hadn’t reported the injury. There are injuries, however, nearly every day. In 1997-98, there were 144 injuries reported to the nurse. I spoke with the principal about this, and he has a safety committee and had already taken steps to reduce it. The footballs are no longer regulation but a snurf type.
· Six or seven kids are playing with yo-yos. Schools often go through the craze periods when some item is temporarily “hot.”
· An aide asked a young boy, “Did you have a nice weekend?” He responded, “Well, I got into a fight.”
· One group was playing with a “kush ball.”
· One group was playing “freeze tag.” Apparently, you become frozen and unfrozen.
· One group of girls was playing with a tiny, tiny rubber ball about the size of a quarter. It costs a quarter, but it bounces incredibly high.
· One girl came up to me and informed me that someone had written “bad words” on the picnic table. I walked over expecting the worst. While it wasn’t nice, it wasn’t as bad as I expected.
· Four staff members watch the groups and are positioned nicely to supervise.
· Boys ignore girls, and girls avoid boys. There was absolutely no romance that I observed. Mr. Janas tells me that the hormones start exploding in the spring.
· One group of four girls was over near the side entrance. The aide told me that this group is always there talking about “girl things.”
· When it’s time to go in, all line up promptly. It’s no surprise that the football players are last.
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