June 10, 2004 - School Flotsam

As the school year winds to a close, I'm finding some interesting things near the schools along my daily dog walks.

The first one I found about a week ago. This one seems to be the handiwork of a young girl. It's yellow construction paper, folded in half, like you might do to make a simple card.

The front page is a list of names, with the final name, Essence, repeated twice and circled.

At the top of the second page, it says, "I love my Mommy." Underneath it is a drawing, apparently, of a handbag, inside of which a surer hand has written "Essence Moten," presumably the name of the little girl who'd been practicing writing names.

The third and fourth pages, ripped halfway down, seem to be doodles and scribbling.

Was this a practice sheet for a card or another craft project? Who are the names on the front? Friends? Family members?

The second item I found yesterday right outside a local public elementary school. It's the front portion of a pin, missing the actual pin part of it. It's actually pretty small, 3/4 inch wide.

Clearly, it's some teacher's idea of how to remind students it's their responsibility to find answers to class questions.

But my question is: who was given these pins? Were they distributed to everyone as a general reminder? Or were they only given to those accused of "guessing" in class, as a form of public humiliation? In that case, there's no wonder it ended up on the ground immediately outside the school grounds, perhaps even stomped into the ground.

A much better example of an object that reached its destination due to anger was a mangled piece of paper I found near the local Catholic elementary school.

This was a white sheet with a carbon copy attached to it and had probably been intended to go home to his guardians. But clearly, a fit of temper overcame the bearer of this letter, and he viciously attacked the note with a pair of scissors before discarding it on the ground.

He must have cut it while it was folded, and strangely enough, he didn't manage to destroy the integrity of the paper. It's actually whole, except for the angry gashes. When you spread it out, it's very readable (click to enlarge).

The note tells the story of a boy who's being punished with no recess for his behavior towards younger classmates. According to the narrative written up by, presumably, a teacher, he was first found harrassing some younger students on the playground and was separated out to stand against the wall, which is apparently their recess punishment.

Before he was given permission to leave the wall, he snuck off and started to play. This time when he was ordered to go stand at the wall, he talked back and said that he would just get "off the wall" again.

This was when he lost his recess privileges.

Let's hope this young boy finds a way to work through his anger and become a productive member of society.