March Madness

It's that time of year again...there could be a blizzard or a heat wave, students are showing early signs of senioritis insisting on wearing flip flops and ski hats, we are reminded once again that college is more than just nerdy coeds traipsing around campus (it's about how well they fit into our brackets), and we teachers have to be on the lookout for chalk in the erasers. Yes, friend, the never-ending month of March has finally morphed into April. 

March was indeed madness. (As I seem to spend 80% of my time at school, most of the madness seems to be happening at school.)

The drug bust - Yes, the faculty and administration is aware there is a drug problem at the school but only with a very small population of students. We work tireless to promote healthy living and educate on the dangers of drug use and most specifically the dangers of "gateway" drugs. While the police and a drug sniffing dog were brought in to patrol the hallway, the suspect was apprehended, arrested and will likely be expelled. 

As if that wasn't enough to cause quite the buzz in school...

The illnesses - Schools are breeding grounds for germs. I get that. I've spent the majority of my life in schools. I understand that without a full February break, there is the argument that students become sicker and germs spread that much more easily. But I'm am now convinced that JBHS must be built on some sort of cesspool of bacteria based the frequency of odd illnesses. I'm not exaggerating when I say that for the past two months, about once a week, there is an announcement just before the bell is supposed to ring, "teachers, please hold your students in your class until the bell rings. We're going to delay it until further notice." 

The first time we heard this, there were lots of questions. "What's going on?" "Why can't we leave?" "Is there a bomb threat?" "No there is a fire." "There can't be a fire stupid, the alarm would go off." "Well, it could be like a little fire." "No, I bet someone died." "I bet someone broke into the school." "I bet it's a raccoon. I heard that happened once." When the bell does finally ring, it is followed by "teachers please check your email for an important message from Principal McMorran." Which does nothing to stop the incessant questions. "Ooh, when you check your email, will you let us know what happened." "I still say someone died." 

Now however, that this has become a weekly occurrence, all I get is "we're not going to still take notes now, are we? Class is still over, right?" The administration has been very effective at quelling the rumors with emailed explanations that read: "A teacher was feeling unwell and went to the nurse. Airing on the side of 'better to overreact, than underreact' the nurse called an ambulance so the teacher could be seen by his doctor. He was taken to Danbury hospital. If there is more you should know, we'll let you know." Sometimes, it's just been a case of vomiting and halls become blocked off - with the uncanny timing - during passing time. But so far this semester there have been multiple cases of vomiting. Multiple cases of students passing out and/or having seizures. And two cases of teachers feeling "unwell" to the point where an ambulance has taken them off school grounds. I mentioned this to my sophomore class a couple of weeks ago but they didn't really seem to think that anything freakish was happening. But in the past two weeks, there was another seizure and another student who got sick in the middle of the hall. Now, they seem convinced I am onto something. 

Maybe it's the sandals and mini-skirts in 40 degree weather. 

But it's not just in school illnesses. There are a handful of cases of teachers with long-term illnesses, family members who have died and/or are seriously ill and two former students who died from cancer all in this year. 

All I know is, I am not drinking the water. 

The Revival of the US

So we just finished a unit on the Roman Empire. I give the students a brief and fairly simple reading about the multiple causes that caused the decline of the empire. The reading was divided into “Internal Causes,” including political, economic and social problems as well as “External Causes” including the Barbarian invasions.

The following are a few excerpts:

Political: “They expected the emperor to look after their needs, but the vast size of the empire and widespread corruption made efficient government difficult…”

Economic: Even unbearably heavy taxes could not produce enough money to run the government. Roads and bridges were left unrepaired and there was an increase in crime…

nearly all trade and manufacturing disappeared…

Short sighted Roman leaders began to destroy the value of the money supply…

Heavy taxation destroyed the middle-class Romans. The payment of taxes and salaries during this time was often made in food or in clothing…

In the cities, heavy taxes and high unemployment contributed to declining prosperity…

Roman economy did not produce enough wealth to support a great civilization. What wealth was produced went into too few hands.

Social: The loyalty and civic pride that had once kept Rome strong had gradually decayed…

another social problem was a decline in morality…

devasting epidemics swept through the empire…

And now a sampling of headlines from the week:

“Stimulus Spurs Road Projects…”

In an article titled, “Congress Approves Budget Resolution,” the New York Times writes, “The ability of the diminished minority to delay the $410 billion bill signaled growing unease in Congress, among Democrats and Republicans, over the levels of government spending in recent months and the staggering increase in the federal deficit...A textbook example of why American have grown so fed up with Washington…”

“State’s Jobless Rate Rises to 7 Percent…” (NY state)

“Court Upholds Most Charges Against Ex-Governor…” Pick a governor, any governor (though this happened to be in relation to former Alabama Governor)

In an article about food contamination: “An examination of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in recent years — in products as varied as spinach, pet food, and a children’s snack, Veggie Booty — show that auditors failed to detect problems at plants whose contaminated products later sickened consumers.”

“Zac Efron Gets Condoms from Mom”

“Employee Sent Sexual Texts to Student”

The sad part is, it didn't take long to find the headlines. The good news is about 1/3 of the students made some connection between what they are learning and what they are living. The bad news is 1/3 were like, "how could you say we are morally declining? Gossip Girl teaches good morals." The really bad news, the other 1/3 could care less.

The decline of Rome happened in roughly three stages. 1. The Crisis of the 3rd Century, 2. A period of "revival" and 3. The Barbarian invasions.

During the second stage there was an emperor, Diocletian who was responsible for a series of reforms that helped to slow the decay and offer hope for a "revival." While his reforms did provide temporary relief, ultimately, his reforms were just band-aids trying to cover massive wounds in the empire.

I'm not saying we have to secure the borders because the Barbarians are knocking, I'm just saying, there are some striking similarities.

God bless the U.S.A.