*Meet* the principal....

hypotenuse · #1 10-30-2002, 12:13 PM

Just got back from an impromptu (as in we drove Chris to school, demanded to see her, and made it obvious we weren't leaving until we did see her) meeting with Chris's principal.

Chris came home from school in tears yesterday. He held it in 'til he got in the car, but then the dam broke. Seems they got their report cards. Chris made all As, except for that one piddling D in PE.

Yah. A freakin D in PE.

This is going to take a bit of background info. So bear with me. We're not out of the woods yet. Got a meeting with the coach in the morning, but I'll get to that.

Obviously, Chris got genes from me and Rick. Kinda works that way sometimes. So the kid is tall. 6" at thirteen. But he also got my chunkiness. So he's 6" at about 240. Anyway, he's always had trouble with the kids teasing him.

Right now he's having another growth spurt and his height has just about balanced out his weight. Looking better, and he feels better. But that hasn't always been the case and it had become a major sport for the kids at school to make fun of him while dressing out in the locker room. Idiot kids.

Well, Chris is handling things in his own way. He basically only changes shorts so he doesn't have to bare his stomach to the world. It's been working fine.

They still try to beat him up sometimes, but (and this was with great pain, I'll tell you. And LOTS of anger.) we finally convinced him that he'd have to put a couple of the kids on their collective asses and they'd leave him alone. It took two years of concentrated effort on our part to acheive this. The kids just hadn't figured out that Chris didn't kick their ass not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to. And that angers me as much as anything. That he has to be violent, at school, when he abhors violence. Very much a pacifist.

It's working. Mostly. Some kid sucker punched him in the face yesterday when he walked into the locker room. Chris decked him and got in a few extra licks for good measure. I don't like it one bit, but he has to function at school, and if these idiots can't learn their lesson the first time, then they'll keep getting their butts kicked. With my approval. I'm tired of them using my son as a favorite punching bag.

Where, you ask, is the coach during all of this?

Yah, I asked that question myself. A lot. And loudly. Absolutely nothing was done. The results you see are my last resort.

Now Chris is not exactly what you call athletic. Ok. He's like me. Can't chew bubble gum and skate at the same time. But he tries hard and I always thought that counted. At least during school hours, if not when he tried out for the basketball team.

But it seems that Chris messed up on a call during kickball. He said it was out, the other guy said it was in. Now, as Chris thought he had kicked it out of bounds, he stopped running, turned around, and headed back to home base.

Evidently this really teed of the captain of Chris's team. He's declared that Chris can no longer play kickball with them. On any team. So Chris has not been exactly participating in PE. You see, kickball was their only option.

No participation = a D in PE.

Now. My question is, again, where the hell is the freakin coach during all of this? The kids are deciding who plays and what? And this is what his grade is based on?

That piddling D means that Chris is off the National Honor Society. The NHS was Chris's affirmation that it didn't matter if he was popular. That you could succeed at school by working hard. That he was good at *something*. He was absolutely crushed.

The day I let some idiot child dictate my son's grade is the day hell can freeze over.

So.

There we were at the principal's office. Now I know that eight in the morning is not exactly the best time to show up, without an appointment, and expect to get in. But I was not happy.

The good news is that the school has a new principal this year. And she knows Chris. She stands out there every afternoon with him as he works the safety patrol. She knows he's not a goof off and respects him. She also sees the kids giving him hell at times.

She was shocked.

We explained what had happened. Told her about how Chris is trying. Finally talked one of the kids into playing basketball with him instead of kickball. Hell, he's been working out with weights at home on his own time, trying to get some muscles working.

She immediately *got* the deeper implications as well. Not just Chris's grade, but the fact that the *coach* wasn't exactly doing his job.

So, we've got an appointment to speak with the coach in the morning. She'll be there as well.

We'll see.

Lynne

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #2 10-30-2002, 12:19 PM

you go girl! demand that that grade be changed! Hell, at the very least they could offer him make-up gym (they did that for me when I was flunking due to intentionally skipping gym class).

theeye · #3 10-30-2002, 12:21 PM

They grade Phys Ed with letter grades?

When I was a kid, Phys Ed was F-S-O (Failed, Satisfactory, Outstanding).

I always got straight A's in academics and an S in Phys Ed. (Except for one occasion on which a particularly sympathetic phys. ed. teacher gave me an O, presumably for being a nice kid. It certainly wasn't for my athletic achievement.) And I lived in terror that I'd fail Phys Ed, that they wouldn't let me graduate, I wouldn't be able to go to college, and I'd die friendless in a ditch somewhere.

I cannot believe they grade Phys Ed with letter grades and include it in your GPA. That is outrageous.

Give them hell for this.

**conradd** · #4 10-30-2002, 12:23 PM

Go Lynne!!

Deb
who thinks you did exactly the right thing

jnbmoore · #5 10-30-2002, 12:28 PM

That is so wrong on so many fronts....

We won't let you play but you get a D because you aren't participating. That is absurd.

Be sure to take great notes at the meeting with the PE teacher -- may come in use later on..

Bridgette
who usually got C's and D's in PE -- except in weight training where we learned that if you wore low cut shirts girls could get A's from the teacher (high school)

hypotenuse · #6 10-30-2002, 12:30 PM

He doesn't have to have an A. A B will keep him on the honor society. Yah, it's the Jr Honor Society, but it means a lot to Chris and I'm not going to let some brat get him kicked off.

Hopefully the coach will be open for discussion. Spent the evening making all sorts of plans for if he isn't.

Thing is, if Chris had have made that grade, that would have been it. I wouldn't be pounding on the school door. You make your bed, you lie on it.

But that his grade was decided by a kid? That the coach is once again being irresponsible? On top of having to fight his way through the locker room?

No.

Lynne

**drmomentum**[$] · #7 10-30-2002, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hypotenuse
Yah, it's the Jr Honor Society, but it means a lot to Chris and I'm not going to let some brat get him kicked off.

F--- "Jr." If it's important to him, it's important. (I know you know that)

You did everything right, and I'm glad to see you're making some headway.

I had some wonderful teachers when I was in school (in fact, most of them), but I also had some teachers with emotional problems, and those teachers do have an effect on children.

Hopefully the coach will be open for discussion. Spent the evening making all sorts of plans for if he isn't.

Quote:

Originally posted by hypotenuse
Thing is, if Chris had have made that grade, that would have been it. I wouldn't be pounding on the school door. You make your bed, you lie on it.

You'd still want to know why. All good grades and this one "D" requires some explanation.

-JP

**lynnzop**[$] · #8 10-30-2002, 02:29 PM

You go Mom. You did (and continue to do) the right thing. Keep at 'em.

Lynn

mtbat · #9 10-30-2002, 02:33 PM

As someone who has had countless battles with my daughter's school I have to applaud you for standing up for your son! Just keep at it and don't back down. It is absolutly unacceptable for a KID to choose another kids grade-and the whole lockerroom situation-that just P*sses me off.

hypotenuse · #10 10-30-2002, 04:31 PM

I spent half the night writing op-ed pieces in my head. Preparing for if it gets ugly. This is of course along with seriously going after this man's job.

What job?

He's not doing his job. Why should he keep it?

I don't write the paper often. And the last time connected to education was in praise of Courtney's flex school. The most recent was in response to the abortion clinic bombing we had here in Birmingham. So it's been a while.

But when I do write, they mostly print it. Guess they don't get many pieces from people who can string together two words. And we're still in the papers and on tv for having to close down the school for two weeks for maintanance.

Bet they'd love another angle.

Lynne

**amykhar** · #11 10-30-2002, 04:40 PM

The problem is that most PE teachers are not exactly fans of the intellectual student. They are more often on the side of the jocks and other more aggressive kids. Some of these teachers do more than ignore what the other kids do - they participate.

Be prepared to have to stomp this teacher and stomp hard.

Amy

sleeper54 · #12 10-30-2002, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by theeye

--snip--

And I lived in terror that I'd fail Phys Ed, that they wouldn't let me graduate, I wouldn't be able to go to college, and I'd die friendless in a ditch somewhere.

--snip--

And look where you have wound up, posting at eaforums...and this is better ??

smilie alert ----> :-) <---- trela eilims

...tom...

Oh yeah, go get 'em 'Bulldog' Lynne !!!

cristina1 · #13 10-30-2002, 05:22 PM

Go get 'em, Lynne! It sounds like this coach has been getting away with a little too much. I would definitely bring up the goings-on in the locker room.

And you are teaching Chris to stand up for what is right, and how to do it. It is always a great lesson learned.

frazzledspice · #14 10-30-2002, 05:39 PM

If your schools are like my children's, Lynne, you will find that there are hardly any Phys Ed requirements in HS.

Kids HATE PE. Especially the girls, who don't have time to shower and change and get to their next class period in time.

And, sad to say, many kids try to get out of PE just because they don't want to sweat or not have a chance to put their makeup back on.

(These aren't MY ideas, these are what I've heard teachers and principals say.)

It would be better if there were a requirement that every child participate in a certain amount of exercise activity--a team sport or an individual sport--and submit signed papers to the school at the end of the semester.

In my daughter's school, the teacher/coaches seem to favor the football players over the rest of the students, even when it comes to history (sigh.)

*emeleel* · #15 10-30-2002, 06:02 PM

Wow, you go Lynne! I say you're doing EXACTLY the right thing!

My sympathies on the Honor Society thing - poor guy.

Oh, and - 6' and 240 lb atTHIRTEEN?

You'd think the idiot kids would get the idea they might want to leave him alone without him having to pound heads!

hypotenuse · #16 10-30-2002, 06:32 PM

Picked up Chris from school.

The coach tried to pump him for information.

Now that was a mistake.

Asked him what he had said, and what we had planned to say. Then asked him what grade he had given him.

Chris did a Sgt. Schulz. I know noth-ing.

The coach really ought not have done that.

He'll figure that out tomorrow.

Lynne

**amykhar** · #17 10-30-2002, 06:46 PM

asked him what grade he had given him? He didn't KNOW?

Amy

hypotenuse · #18 10-30-2002, 06:49 PM

He had no idea. Chris had to tell him.

hypotenuse · #19 10-30-2002, 06:52 PM

Thing is, the school IS computerized. If he didn't know what he had given him, he could have looked it up. Even if he didn't have it on paper somewhere.

jnbmoore · #20 10-30-2002, 06:53 PM

So the coach is disorganized on top of everything........

**pluckyduck** · #21 10-30-2002, 08:02 PM

Lynne, I'm really glad you are going to bat for Chris. Go you!

I used to feel so sorry for the guys in high school. We always ended up with girl valedictorians because the guys got screwed by gym grades.

Girls got an "A" in gym as long as they showed up with a clean uniform every class. Guys had to actually pass tests and stuff like that. It's not surprising that the straight A science geek guy wasn't also getting straight A's in rope climbing and such.

Everybody knew the system was unfair, but nobody did anything about it.

Andrea

murasaki · #22 10-30-2002, 08:18 PM

Go get 'em, Lynne!

--naomi

hypotenuse · #23 10-31-2002, 09:53 AM

Chris now has a B in PE.

Idiot coach.

**amykhar** · #24 10-31-2002, 09:55 AM

Watch him closely Lynne. He may not be the nicest soul to Chris in the future.

Amy