What Do I Do Now, Mom?
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 43 

The Day That Flew By

Randy and I awoke early and played a few games before we heard anyone stirring. I got up, went and made the coffee, then checked to see who was up.  The five oldest boys were up and were on their way to the barn area.  I walked to the barn with them, and much to my surprise, Tim and Jake were already there.

Billy and Bobby both reacted.  Billy spoke for them, “We have a system going around here.  Why don’t you people eat your breakfasts and go get started on the Latham house.  That way it will get done sooner.  Dad Hank, who’s going to the dentist today besides you?”

I was taken back by Billy’s comments, “Billy, that wasn’t very kind of you to speak so abruptly to Mr. Wallace and Tim.  They just want to help.  Remember, they’re farm boys at heart.  In answer to your question: since I have to work at the school, today, I thought your Daddy could drive Walt to the dentist, and the rest of you can be here when the chicks and the frozen meat arrive.  Witt can take the remainder of you to the dentist tomorrow.  You people had better get busy before the milk truck arrives.”

As I was walking Jake and Tim to the house and trailer, I tried to justify the way Billy reacted.  “Guys, don’t be upset by the way Billy reacted,  When they first moved here, it was just Randy and the two boys,  Then along came Witt and he was shortly followed by his five brothers, plus all of the guys who are here on a daily basis.  I think that Billy and Bobby are afraid that they are going to be losing their home.  They’ve had a couple of rough years as had everyone else.  Just be patient with each of the guys.”

Randy was standing on the porch, “I guess you guys got kicked out of the barn.  Bobby and Billy warned me that they had all of the help they needed to get the morning chores done. They told me to save my energy for the work that we had to do.  They promised they would ask for help if they needed it.  There will be things we can help them with when things settle down into a routine.  Hank, what time do you want me to be at Blake’s office this morning with Walt?”

I’ll take the first appointment at nine o’clock because of my meeting at the school administration building.  You two should probably be there no later than nine thirty.  I probably won’t be home until after lunch, sometime.  I may not even make it home until after Sarah, Wylie, my Mother and I check out the Building Blocks Academy.”

“Oh yes, I’ve invited the Snowden’s to dinner tonight.  Uncle Mark thinks they need to be updated on they Latham estate.  There have been so many things happening that I don’t even remember what I need to be doing next.  It’s a good thing that my mother is around to keep me straight.”

Fortunately, I had always had it drilled into my head that I need to brush and floss my teeth well at least twice a day,  I had to wear braces as a teenager.  As I was leaving Blake’s office, he suggested, "I think it might be a good idea for you to buy the guys each an battery operated toothbrush that runs for two minutes, to make sure they are spending enough time brushing.  Since their diet has changed, it might be even more important.”

I went to the reception desk and reminded the young woman behind the desk, “Rita, please put Randy’s, Billy’s and Bobby’s statement on one bill.  The six Latham boys need to be on a separate bill, so I can submit it to the proper agency.  Randy must have been in the hygienist’s chair because Walt was sitting in the reception area with his knees bouncing up and down.

“Walt, relax.  Blake isn’t going to hurt you,”

“Dad Hank, I think I have at least one and maybe two cavities.  I’m afraid of shots.”

If that’s the case, have Dad Randy stand by and tell you dirty stories while Blake tears your mouth apart.  Walt, have  Randy run you by the high school and find out what forms you need, to play football.  You might find out what Wade is going to need, so he can wrestle. We should try to get as much paperwork taken care of now as possible, since we’ll be busy once school starts.”

I stopped by the school.  Ted, Aaron and Eric were almost finished with the building and it was looking spotless.  Ted saw me and came to talk to me.  “Boss, the maintenance and cleaning hot shots are transferring us to another building where the cleaning people have been sloughing off.  They want the three of us to go and put the fear of God into the crew.  Mrs. Corn has agreed to let the guys work some overtime, because she wants to take them on a vacation during the first two weeks of August, to see their family in Maine.”

“Don’t worry, the boys will be still only work the agreed upon hours in the schools and be able to help with the remodeling at the farm in the afternoons.”

When I arrived at the Central Office, I was directed to a briefing room.  There were stacks of folders placed at five positions.  There was a tag with my name on it and other stacks for Dr. Hunter, Assistant Superintendent for Human Relations; Dr. Brown, Superintendent of Schools; Doctor Blair, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Mr. Don Simmons head of the Board of Education Personnel Committee.

I was seated, looking at the folders when the four dignitaries arrived with Paulette Goldwin, head of the Teacher’s Union, and Greg Spiller, even though there wasn’t a name tag for him.  Dr. Hunter started the meeting, “Mr. Adler, I believe you know everyone who is present.  The applicants who are interested in teaching positions are here for their formal interviews.  Only the persons who are present will be considered at this late date.  There have been several more applicants since we last talked.  There is one person who will be arriving about noon for an interview.”

“Thank you, Dr. Hunter, I would like to meet with the regular classroom teachers first, since they must be in place before the first day of school.  They will need more preparation time than the specialists.  We need to hire teachers for the second, fourth, fifth and sixth grades.”

Mr. Hunter added, we just received another request for a years’ maternity leave of absence.  Mrs. Robin Oaks, one of the first grade teachers found out that she and her husband are expecting twins and the doctor is afraid that there might be complications if she tries to do too much.”

I glanced through the available folders and found six classroom teachers that I wanted to interview in person.  After talking to the first six, I was really pleased with teachers for the first grade, fifth grade and sixth grade positions,  The other three interviewees had beautifully written credentials, but I just wasn’t certain they would be a good fit with the rest of the staff.

Greg commented, “Being a little picky are you, Hank?”

Paulette answered before I could, “Greg, if everyone was as careful picking their staff members, there would be a lot less back stabbing going on in the buildings,  If you hadn’t noticed, Hank get’s a lot of information from his questions.”

I was looking through the last of the folders and there was one that was very nondescript and several mediocre folders,  I handed them to Dr. Hunter, could we look at these three people,  They might just surprise us.  I only see two persons who are applying for the P. E. position and I don’t see any art teacher applicants.”

“Why don’t we interview Mr. Ivory, first.  Something tells me that he might be a good addition to the staff.  His application says he is a brand new teacher and that he didn’t have a very good experience with his cooperating teacher when he was doing his student teaching.  I have worked with his cooperating teacher in other endeavors.  She wants to do nothing, but wants to take all the credit when things go well.”

The interview with Martin Ivory was by far the best interview that we had all day.  I passed Dr. Hunter a note, ‘I definitely want Mr. Ivory to be our new second grade teacher.  He’s everything that his predecessor wasn’t.’

Dr. Hunter wrote back, ‘I’m with you.’

I felt that either of the last two applicants would work, but then I had to decide which would be the best for school environment.  I asked a question that would tell me which of the two I would want on my staff,  “If you saw two children sitting after school waiting for someone to pick them up, what would you do?”

The first young woman lost the contest when she answered, “I’d take them inside and have the janitor take care of them until they were picked up, if everyone else had already departed.

The second young man answered, “First, I’d try to find out who they were and whom they were waiting on.  I’d probably sit with them for a reasonable amount of time.  If no one still showed, I would take the children inside and call the authorities and report that the children had possibly been abandoned.”

Needless to say, I was ready to hire the gentleman as my new fourth grade teacher.  I looked at the two applicants for the physical education position and there was no question which of the two I wanted to be on the staff.  The young woman believed that the children should look forward to having  P. E. and not realize that they were actually making their bodies stronger, while exercising.

It was almost lunch time when Dr. Hunter’s secretary brought an application into the room.  “This is the application for the lady who just arrived in town and is applying for a position of art teacher.”

We quickly read through the application and I was impressed.  I was even more impressed when we had the personnel interview.  Mrs. Terry was hired on the spot.  After those people present approved my choices, Dr. Hunter sent his secretary to the area where the applicants were waiting and asked the seven people I wanted to hire to come into the office. 

Dr. Brown stood, “I’d like to welcome you as employees of the Belleview Public School District.  You will be assigned to the Birchcrest school, where Mr. Adler will be your principal.  You will need to spend the afternoon filling out your paperwork.  Mr. Adler, when would you like to meet with your new staff members?”

“Thank you, Superintendent Brown, I’d like to meet with my new staff members on Monday morning at ten o’clock at the school, so they can see what materials are available, and see if there are any other things they might think they need, to start the new school year.”

As I was walking out of the meeting, Greg Spiller approached me, “Hank, you’re staff is going to be even more difficult to manage with your new hires.  You’re going to have discipline problems hanging out of your windows.  You’ll probably be demanding more special education teachers.”

“Greg, stick your attitude you know where.  Principals don’t work for the special education department.  The special education department is there to support children who have special needs, and not dictate school policy.”

I walked away and headed to my car, ignoring what Greg was saying.

I stopped for a sandwich and went to the school.  I called the farm and asked to speak to Sarah, hoping she was there. 

Bobby answered the phone, “This is Bobby Taylor, how may I help you?”

“Bobby, it’s Dad Hank.  Is Mrs. Wallace anywhere close by?”

“Yep, she’s here talking to Daddy.  Here, I’ll put her on.”

“This is Sarah.”

“Sarah, I’m going to be caught up at school for a while this afternoon.  Could you please bring Wylie, and meet me at the Building Blocks Academy at three thirty.  It’s really rather easy to find.”

Sarah laughed, “Your Mother was already here and drew an explicit map as to how I would get there.  There may be a problem, though,  The peeps have arrived and Wylie is so busy taking care of them that I’m not sure I’ll be able to tear him away.  Don’t worry, we’ll meet you there.”

I sent an email message to all the staff members who would be returning in the fall and invited them to the meeting I was going to have with the new teachers who had been hired.  I tried to make it clear that the meeting was not mandatory.  I also informed them that Robin was taking a year's leave because of a pregnancy.  There were several teachers whom I didn’t have an email address for, so I called them in person or left a message on their phones.  I was wondering if there would be any teachers who would care enough to come.”

I went through the messages on the phone, to see if there was anything important that needed to be taken care of.  There were several that sounded as if they might be important.  I took down the information so that I could take care of them later. 

There was one from Superintendent Brown’s office, so I called it.  “This is Henry Adler, I had a message to call Superintendent Brown.”

“Thanks for returning my call, Hank.  I had a hunch you might go to school.  You need to be at the Central Office at six thirty in the morning.  We have been invited to attend a working meeting of the State Legislature's Budget Committee, at eight o’clock, before you address the State Legislature at ten o’clock.”

“Dr. Brown, it appears to me that there is a conspiracy to totally discredit me.  I know nothing about budgeting.  I only know a little bit about education.”

“Hank, that’s why you need to be there.  You have caught the attention of the people of the state and elsewhere, by standing up for something that you believe in.  Everyone is scrambling right now to save their jobs.  I would advise you not to volunteer any of your thoughts, but answer any questions that are asked of you as best you can.  I’ll see you at six thirty.”

I slammed down the receiver after Dr. Brown hung up, ‘How did I get into this mess?’

I looked at my watch and realized that I’d better head toward the preschool for the appointment, or Mom would have me in the doghouse permanently.

Fortunately, I was the first to arrive at the Building Blocks Academy.  I went in and introduced myself.  The young receptionist looked up, “Good afternoon, Mr. Adler.  I heard you would be visiting this afternoon.  I’m Vanessa Rivers, you had my brother when he was in first grade.  You know the owner, I think you went to school with her.  She’s curious as to why you would need an appointment to see her.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Mother, Wylie and Sarah.  Wylie ran to me and hugged me, “Daddy, is this where I’m going to go to school when the big boys go to school?”

“Wylie, that’s what we're here to find out.”

Mother stepped into the conversation, “Miss Rivers, we have an appointment to see Mrs. Patterson about enrolling Wylie in the preschool.”

“Mrs. Adler, Mrs. Patterson is expecting you.   Let me tell her that you’ve arrived.”

The young lady pushed a button on the phone, “Mrs. Patterson, the Adler party has arrived.”

“Send them in, Vanessa.”

Vanessa escorted us into the office and I started to laugh, “Well, as I live and breath, if it isn’t Janie Murphy.  I heard you were married but decided not to go into teaching.”

“Hank, I hadn’t realized that you had gotten married far less had any children.”

“Jane, I’m not married, but we have eight sons.  Wylie here is the youngest.  We would like to enroll him in your school, starting when school starts.  I know from experience that your students come well prepared for school.  Wylie is almost five, but he isn’t old enough to start public school.  Would you have an opening for him to attend the Academy?”

“Hank, you’re in luck.  We had a cancellation this morning for an opening for the morning session, this fall.  That is the time when we concentrate on academics.  The afternoons are more like play sessions, especially after the children arrive from school.” 

“I don’t suppose you know anyone who might be willing to work in the mornings, if you should enroll Wylie.  The student who will not be attending is leaving because his father is being transferred and the mother was one of our most capable assistants.”

I pointed to Sarah, “Sarah might be interested.  She is going to be taking care of Wylie when school starts, since everyone else will be busy.”

Mother asked, “Mrs. Patterson, could we look around the facility while you and Mrs. Wallace talk about her working here.  We want to enroll Wylie.  I’m sure Vanessa can help us fill out the enrollment forms.”

Mother looked at me, “You stay here and take care of the forms while Wylie and I look around.”

I watched as everyone departed and Vanessa handed me the enrollment forms.  When I came to the medical information, I informed Vanessa that I would need to get that updated and bring the information in at a later date.  “I’ll need to take a copy of the forms to our doctor, to get them completed.”

When we departed the Academy, Sarah had a part time job, and Wylie would be going to school from nine until one, each day.  Of course, my bank account was several pounds lighter.

Wylie rode home with me and he was higher than a kite.  I had to hear all about the new chicks and how neat the school was going to be.  I didn’t have a chance to get a word in edgewise.  He talked the entire way home about everything that was happening.  ‘I hope everyone else had as good day as he did.’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Wylie is absolutely over the moon about going to school.  I am sure he will do very well, there.  He is very bright, and extremely eager to learn, and he is very excited to be with all the other kids his age. He is a very likable youngster, and he makes friends very easily. 

I think Hank is going to have his hands full, trying to keep ahead of the jerks that are trying to hang on to their jobs.

Of course, Hank can take care of himself, despite what his mother might think. 

I can hardly wait for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 12/03/10