It is amazing what kids want to take home. If I were a parent, I would be standing by the front door with a trash can and waiting to dump my kids backpacks. I had a store yesterday and today. I am cleaning out my 20 years of accumulated stuff. I cannot believe what the kids want to take home. I just let them go through the "store" and take one item. They went at least 15 times. I still have more stuff but I ran out of time. I may find a box and do this again next year. What a great way to get rid of junk. (especially junk the students in the past have given me and I could not bear to part with for fear they would catch me.) I even put out books that would not fit into the boxes. They are taking it all. I have to move it all into an unused classroom until the end of the summer and then move it into the new school! They built us a new building! This one is as old as me! It was built in 1952 and has been flooded (3 feet of water) when the dam gave way in 1983, termited, moused, bugged, roached, black widowed, and anted. It has had the asbestos removed and then later they came back and did more. It has been remodeled 3 times in the 20 years I have been here. The roof has blown of twice and flooded all my personal stuff. It has been broken into more times than I can count and vandalized inside the classrooms. Windows are rocked on a regular basis. The refrigerator in the lounge has been stolen and so have the microwaves (three times!) and guess who paid for them in the first place. Not the district.
It is ready to be torn down! I am amazed it is still standing. Thank God for the brick! That is the only thing holding the walls up. I remember when the buildings had rows of windows across the back of the rooms and swamp coolers. They bricked up the windows and put in AC. My how time changes. Finally, after 20 years in the same building I am going to move. I will be out of my comfort zone. I will have to train my car to go a new direction. It is also 5 miles farther than this year. But, "School's out, school's out, Teacher let the mules out, One went east, One went west, One went - opps I guess we shouldn't use that old cheer any more.