Just Another Day at School

The best part of working at a school is the unpredictability of any given day. Despite the monotony of our schedule, Period 1 English II-C, Period 2 English II-A, etc., and the routine of the school year, life at school is anything but bland. This past Thursday is a perfect example.
It was actually an exam day, which means all of the students are stuck inside the classroom for hour after hour of tests while the teachers sit in the front of the room monitoring 50 pairs of potentially wandering eyes.
I chose to abstain from monitoring duties and hence spent my day sitting with the teachers who are on their overseeing "break." The morning was passing slowly, until one of the teachers pulled a second year student of mine out of class to perform an important and pressing duty: replace the rope on the flagpole. I did not understand the sudden urgency of this task, because the rope had been broken for a few weeks at this point, but I guess then was the time for the repair. I didn't see the ladder lying around and I tried to ask my co-teacher where it was, but before I could I saw Jayson shimmying up the pole. I couldn't believe it. Granted I have seen kids climb a number of thin vertical objects, such as palm trees, but never one that was quiet this tall. Furthermore it was held together with tape1/2 way up where it had apparently broken at some point!? When Jayson reached the top I watched the pole sway around in a slow circular motion as he put the rope through the small circle at the top. He hesitated as it made an extra far dip and then slid down like he climbs 30 foot poles everyday.
As if the day did not already have its fill of adventures, someone casually mentioned at recess time that the president was coming to our town at 2 that afternoon for a funeral -That explained all of the police officers and military personnel who had been in town that morning. I had all sorts of questions: how was she coming? what for? would she be hanging around? No one seemed that interested in discussing it and I let it go (everyone was much more excited to talk about the party we would be having next week for the teacher who was leaving).
At 2:15 (right on time Filipino style) three choppers interrupted the quiet of our test taking campus and flew over our heads to land in the field right next to the school. It was the President of the Philippines within a few hundred meters of our schol and hardly anyone moved. I grabbed a co-teacher and went running over to the edge of the school property to watch the choppers and a long line of black SUVs. So we didn't really see the President (she got off on the other side of the helicopter) but we were still very close.

At the end of the day I was sitting with the teachers and someone mentioned the choppers and all the cars. A couple of people mumbled a few comments. Someone else mentioned the party we'd be having for Ma'am Gina (the teacher who is leaving) and everyone had something to say.

the infamous taped flag pole