Friday, February 06, 2009

Visiting day part II

At school we had another round of visiting applicants. I was given the slightly older ones, ages seven or eight. One of the kids was a typical rich blond smart-ass of the kind that so unfortunately is bred here in Texas by parents inexplicably intent on raising a new generation of arrogant assholes. He called me by my first name repeatedly, wrote on his book response sheet that the book was "boring," lay down instead of sat during a brief instruction time, and just generally acted like the world owed him a favor. It's sad to say all that about an eight-year-old, but honestly, there are so many kids like that here in the rich areas. I wrote "totally inappropriate --- absolutely not" on his application. It's not entirely his fault he's like that, but there it is.

The only other kid who stood out was a black boy who was polite, sweet, hardworking, and friendly to the others. His family had applied for financial aid (one of my parents' neighbors, a woman I've talked with a few times and is incredibly nice, seemed to have overseen the process). I wrote the highest praise on his form.

If there's space for him, they'll let him in. I hope he gets in --- it could really change a less fortunate kid's life to go to a quality school instead of the deleterious idiot factories they have for free around these parts.

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Best year-end recap ever:

This starts off strong and ends brilliant.

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