“ DIRECTIONS + ” Tuesday 29 July 2008 pm
approx 160 pages By Paul J. Gammarano, M.A., J.D.
{Also for rear cover}
Other books by P J Gammarano (XLibris Publisher):
“Human Sexuality Scenarios 101+” ISBN:
“Quick Justice” ISBN:
“Teaching: Not For Dummies / Substance Abuse Awareness: A Guidebook”
To order copies of this book or other XLibris published titles :
e-mail:Orders@Xlibris.com website: www.XLibris.com
or
1-888-795-4274 available to call on 24 hour/7 days basis
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Book jacket summary:
The mighty morphing of a Staten Island New York City high school leads to some interesting conflicts, but paradoxically produces some heroes.
In a city-wide natural emergency involving their school, some students rise to the occasion to avert what would otherwise be a disaster.
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=== Pages 7 through 10 ===
Preface
This book is intended to show that even kids who are sometimes not always behaving as perfect youths can rise to the occasion and become heroes under emergencies.
“Hazard Zet Forward” “Carpe Diem”
Disclaimer:
The story line, plot, characters, and setting are fictional and any resemblance to characters in real life are purely coincidental, and this author shall not be held liable for any damages, monetary or otherwise for any allegations arising from such claims.
Chapter Page
1 A Unique School 7
2 First Day of School 11
3 Mr. Q. and Other New Town Professionals 14
4 Meet the Parents 21
5 The Chewing Gum Bandit………………………….22
6 The Mirror Has Many Faces…………………….…29
7 Teacher’s Helpers 39
8 Therapeutic Lunches 44
9 A New Team……………………………………………..47
10 Creative Writing Department…………………..49
11 Library Reading 63
12 Summers Off 64
13 Resource Room 65
14 If You Can’t Stand The Heat 66
15 The Confiscated Regents Exam 67
16 The Health Center 68
17 If You Can’t Stand the Heat…………………….79
18 “OTB” has two meanings 80
19 Field Trip 84
20 Concerts Dances, and Plays 85
21 Circular 6 ………………………………………………..89
22 “Back in the Day” 102
23 The Dean’s Office 105
24 The Cell Phone Ban 108
25 Proctoring Day……………………………………….109
26 The Educational Conference ………………..110
27 Fuggetaboutit………………………………………..114
28 Calls to Home 117
29 A Real Incident Report 120
30 The Annual Softball Game …………… 122
31 Day of the Outing 125
32 Incident Report…………………………… 126
33 Emergencies Do Happen 130
34 The Game Plan……………………………… 143
35 During the Disaster 147
36 Properties of Water 150
37 The Aftermath…………………………………. 154
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1 A UNIQUE SCHOOL
Just south of the tenth busiest intersection in a city (that some say is the greatest city of the largest metropolis on earth) is a high school. It is a sort of home away from home to a large number of people who work and go to school there. The name is New Town, and it represents the city at large in a number of ways. One characteristic is its diversity. While New York City has always held a diverse culture, there are a lot of neighborhoods which were formerly ghettos with almost uniform nationalities. But today, the city has become a marbled mixture of every conceivable combination. That polyglot of the city shows in the demographic of New Town to this day.
The history of New Town goes back several decades. It was originally located on the site of what is now a highly reputable technical high school. The present location is adjacent to what was once a landing & takeoff field for small aircraft during World War II. Luckily for those who drive there, this is now a widely used athletic field with ample parking spaces. In a pinch, the teachers who are shorted a parking spot on school days will avail themselves, and walk through the bordering fencing space. That space is there because it was cut open by neighborhood kids, and remains open out of necessity. So, whether the large gate is open or not, walking in is possible. That is another part of a New York City tradition: when a section of cyclone fencing presents a barrier to common sense use by people, someone will bring the hand tools and cut their way through. This would happen on most playgrounds, at least “back in the day”, for a safer place to play off the streets. And this one fence spot seems to have withstood the test of time as a holdover to those days, enabling many teachers and driving seniors alike to get to school each morning.
The “This is a Drug-Free Zone” traffic sign had long since been covered with spray painted graffiti, making such signs no different than any other high school in the city, no matter how reputable. While the majority of kids were not really into drugs the way they were in the 1960’s, thanks to some powerful education programs, there were only a select few, as there would be in every high school. The ongoing challenge for every teacher was to somehow “unglamorize” it, no matter what subject they taught. It was tough for the 9th grade math teacher to inculcate values to which young people would readily relate. Yet if they didn’t, the older kids who wanted to recruit new “druggies” would have an easier time of it. That was a part of what made this school so cohesive.
The second big prong of the challenge was the sexuality urges that would be simultaneously taking over their youthful yet transitional & growing bodies, making them vulnerable to promiscuity and its consequences of unprotected sex: STDs and unwanted pregnancy. These risks also were subject to the likelihood of peer pressure.
The normally healthy kids at the school from every neighborhood soon felt how fortunate they were, once they found out that the school was also home to a school for physically or emotionally challenged young people who in most cases could not be in a regular classroom setting. Instead these Special Education students had their own school within the school, and their own staff of Special Education teachers and paraprofessionals. So-called normal students would sometimes poke fun and pranks at each other. But making fun at any of these students was off limits and something that no one would ever dare to do. Otherwise they’d incur the verbal wrath of teachers and many of their fellow students alike. It was a subliminal part of the character building of these students at this school, who all prided themselves on being tough and street smart.
Nobody wanted to feel stupid, and the teachers would appeal to this when they attempted to get through to them in the classroom. Their underlying message was that it was OK to be tough AND smart through knowledge. It was always a tough sell for those with the bad behavioral habits. It was getting through a brick wall for some of them.
The phone calls to homes made the telephone company rich, and the letters to houses made the post office rich, as some teachers would joke amongst themselves. The M.A.S.H.-like atmosphere was apparent to most who worked there any length of time. This meant that despite the student-caused turmoil, everyone functioned to the best of their abilities. The Principal set a fine example in that regard by her candor and genuineness in wanting to see young students receive the best possible education. She realized, as virtually every teacher and guidance counselor did, that many kids were in challenged or dysfunctional households. And then to have to come into school as though nothing was wrong at home was something that each of the faculty took into consideration.
New Town once in the early 1990’s had hosted an anti-drug event with a million dollars in seized cash in the lobby of the main entrance. It was an education for small kids who visited the exhibit. Parents were pretty amazed as well. This event was heavily guarded, even though the booty was behind bullet proof glass. The mountains of singles, fives, tens and twenties in U.S. currency resembled a miniature of the Himalayas in the case. Kids were running their fingers along the glass in the same way that they play at the zoo at the fish tanks. Parents made remarks among themselves and to each other, both about how much money was involved in such doings, as well as what they would do if they owned that much money, in wishful thinking, without the big catch to it.
The police were also there to explain to the kids that the people behind all that money were in jail serving time because of the number of deaths involved with the drug running at the various levels. People walked away not wanting the money as much anymore, after hearing the true stories that some of the police officers told to their listening audiences. Some listeners one at a time, some in pairs and others in varying numbers. Different agents had different stories to tell, but each with the same theme and moral to their story.
The population in this entire community was in dire need of such a blunt education (no pun intended) because of the general usage levels of illicit drugs. Like everywhere else, the prevailing attitude was that it didn’t happen around where they lived, and that it was someone else’s problem. But what these people didn’t realize was that it was not just everybody else’s area or neighborhood that had the problem of illicit substances. It was the same problem that persisted in our nation. Whether affluent or in impoverished areas, it was arguably more of an age-related matter. Teenagers in or even before their teens would be introduced to illicit substances by the temptation or attraction of “doing something that big people do”. There would be the factor of peer pressure for some, and the dastardly factor of older teens trying to introduce younger teens toward experimenting. A huge factor was whether or not their parents had decent values, and what they were about. Those households which held honesty, decency and hard work in high regard in any neighborhood would have the kids which were a part of the solution, and not part of the problem.
In these schools such as New Town, the teachers used their creative energies and worked overtime without pay when it came to any opportunity to reach a kid while hopefully influencing them. This was a common thread among teachers and administration, and typical of the vast majority of schools of today.
2 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
The back to school thing is generally the same across every school in the city, probably the nation, if not the world. There are students brand new to the school, and students who can be described as too familiar to their school. Most kids tend to be decent, talkative, and developing interest in the opposite sex and sexuality. Then there are kids at either end of the behavioral spectrum, i.e. those new kids with old bad habits, and the old kids with new interest in their old habits. Each of these kids have needs to be addressed, relative to taming the maverick behavior, so that they can be successful later on in life. For the high school teacher, that means getting them through graduation with the skills they’ll need to hold a job, or study further in college.
Explanations of classroom rules and regulations are at the forefront of beginning each class. The rules can be described as very similar across every teacher’s list. The expression is the paragraphs are the same, even though the words and sentences are different. Consistently, every teacher will ask for and even demand courteous behavior, no side talk, no electronic gear use (unless students are directed to use a calculator), and raising one’s hand before being asked to speak. Respecting others, and no litter are just another of the essentials being taught.