The Thanksgiving Perspective of a High School Administrator

Let me be perfectly clear; for a high school assistant principal, Thanksgiving is most definitely about gratitude. Gratitude that I have a five, yes five, day weekend coming up. And today, which is Tuesday, is actually Friday. Hallelujah!

You see, high school is a tad different than elementary or middle school. In the primary grades during the onset of Thanksgiving Break, students give their educators turkeys made out of hand prints, cards about gratitude, and maybe even a gift certificate to a local restaurant. In high school however, we get the finger as 1700 kids run for the door. And trust me, at this point in the year, I would be giving that finger right back if it meant I wouldn’t lose my fantastic, amazing job.

Thanksgiving break is important to every educator because we are extra, crispy fried this time of year for several reasons:

1. The honeymoon is OVER.

Once October hits and the reality of our year truly sets in, we realize we are in a world of pain. Students are frustrated with their lack of choice in, and control over, their own education experience. Because of this unfortunate mode of education policy, right around this time of year, many students revert back to their terrible twos and act like a bunch of rabid animals. It’s not personal; it’s fact. And we, the adults in the building, become agitated, crazy people to say the very least. The unrelenting pressures of working in today’s educational climate will turn even the most mild-mannered, Zen, human being into a raging lunatic. And the calls from parents are pouring in as they begin to swallow the hard reality that their little Johnny is not the well-mannered genius they envisioned he would be. Little Johnny has ADHD, it’s not his fault he cussed out the teacher!

2. The meetings are KILLING us.

In education, meetings are where problems are born. The amount of meetings/trainings we are required to attend in the k12 education world is completely and utterly unsustainable. My favorite meeting is the meeting about upcoming meetings. In fact, there is nothing I love more than wasting my time and others’ time to discuss useless information that will impact us in no way shape or form. For long, arduous meetings, I am so very grateful.

3. Night time events are a pain. 

Plays, performances, food drives, holiday sales, etc. increase exponentially during the months of November and December. Must every club or sport have a holiday performance, gathering or dinner? I would love, just once, to forgo all this holiday hoopla and let students, parents and educators, who have to be present to supervise all of these holiday festivities, go home and be with our families. Everyone and everything just needs to STOP. Just stop; it’s easy to do.

4. Holiday snacks are everywhere.

The food in the teacher lounge, office, and front desk is enticing, carb-laden, guilt-loaded, fattening junk. And I go right for it like I’ve never seen a pumpkin spiced muffin before. After I have shamelessly stuffed my face, I hit up some left-over Halloween candy in the office next door to finish the job. Ugh. It hurts the soul to think about all the empty calories consumed out of sheer stress during this time of year.

The Bright Side

Although I am extremely skilled at seeing the aggravation in most situations, I am even better at taking a challenging circumstance and making it better. When life gives you lemons, make a nice stiff drink with them. So today I am going to do my part in bringing Thanksgiving joy and gratitude to those around me. First, I will smile at the students sent to me for skipping class and remember that I myself want to skip today. I too want to hide behind the bleachers and smoke and make out with my boyfriend. I will also remind myself that students are just little mirrors looking back at me, showing me the societal microcosm we are all creating here in our k-12 world. I also pledge to cut teachers a break today and not enter one single classroom. Although the powers-to-be want us to monitor teachers today especially, I don’t care what’s on the lesson plan. You want to show movies all day, have holiday celebrations, and not cover one single standard? I say go for it! Just keep the kids alive for the next few hours, get them on the bus, into their cars and out the gate! Happy Thanksgiving Break everyone!