Screaming For Power

Last week our area experienced high winds and lots and lots of rain. Rivers were rising over their banks, debris was being blown around, and many trees were toppling over. We were lucky to be up high, so the water was not too much of a problem, but the wind still managed to make things interesting. A tree fell over in our front parking lot hitting four cars (though luckily not doing much damage), and the power was switching on and off all day.

Middle School students absolutely love change from the normal routine. In fact, any kind of unexpected change usually sends them into a screaming, giggling, jabbering fit. The power situation was certainly no exception. The first time the power went out I was in the hall before classes. The moment it went dark I was surrounded by the sound of 930 children screaming at the tops of their lungs. A few minutes later the lights came back on, and there was a collective sigh.

Once classes started I carefully explained to my students that power outages are actually bad things for them because we don't get first priority on going home. A massive outage can cause schools to be closed, but since share our busses with three elementary schools we do not get to go straight home. Imagine that the school day is canceled due to an outage at 9:30am, it takes about two hours to get the little kids home, and another hour to get all the busses back and loaded. This means the earliest pick up would be around 12:30pm. We would get to sit in the dark, getting colder and colder, for THREE HOURS with NO LUNCH other than PB and J. I explained all this to them, and they agreed that it sounded not fun.

A few minutes later the power went out again and, you guessed it, they all screamed their heads off. Logic is not always their strong suit. The power came back on again a few minutes later. You begin to see the pattern. Very little work actually got done that day, but still no one got to go home early. If the power is going to go out again, I would really prefer it go at night so they can cancel school BEFORE everyone arrives. I'm not sure my ears can take another day like that one.