Day 5...
Oh my son....pulled up this morning to FWCHS and he doesn't have his belt on. Ugh! This is not something new as my son is a little disorganized and it has been a continual fight in school for him to wear his uniform completely and correctly. What's a mom to do? :) The good news (in my eyes) is that a uniform is required. I will explain...
I've noticed that there is a lot less decision, fight and general worry about outfits, etc. when a school uniform is required. You have a certain set of clothing, everyone has the same selections and there is no need for massive clothes shopping and/or fashion upkeep. FA does not require a uniform, although has some guidelines for what is appropriate, etc. My older son was never too worried about what to wear, however I'm afraid it would have been an issue if my daughters had attended there. Not sure if RCA requires a uniform. All Fayette County Schools require uniforms and I'm just fine with that. Some people say it doesn't allow them to express themselves, etc. but kids can insert colorful socks or hair accessories, etc. into their outfits to mix them up. I am fine with them not having complete freedom of expression too - they are there to LEARN for goodness sakes! Of course, if it had been me when I was in school I'm sure I would have organized a school protest against uniforms!
My son attended Cross Country practice last night and tonight and is SORE! I was happy to hear that Coach Redditt allowed them to practice indoors due to the extreme heat. Better to have the kids ALIVE to run at their first meet! Not sure about FA uniforms yet. Last year I paid about $125 for a uniform (not including the shoes), warm-up and duffel bag at FA for my older son's soccer needs. They did provide a fundraiser for the boys to earn money towards the uniform/equipment, however my son didn't sell enough to cover the total expense. We got a bill in the mail for the rest of the expense a few weeks before school was out. I'm not complaining...too much...about the required items. They were very nice and he could have sold more, but...it was one more bill at the end of the year when we were trying to pay for other graduation-related stuff. I would have also liked him to get a few more years' worth of use out of the uniform/equipment. It was only used for last spring. Hopefully they'll recycle the uniforms for the other boys, but what to do with left over warm-up/duffel?? Maybe I will create a quilt. Forget that - I can barely sew! At least FA has soccer...still working on that for FWCHS and waiting to hear from the Coach-elect at FWCHS (Mr. Hicks has spoken with him and he should be contacting me - this is progress!).
So I'm hearing some informative and nice things through your comments. Thank you Mr. O'Brien (school board member/martial arts guru - I know him don't worry!) for explaining the bathroom funding. I revise my statement...maybe someone should ask to increase the maintenance funds to include bathroom renovations at OES! :) My kids have been attending there since 1999 and still they are in as bad of shape as they were then (some of the restrooms anyway - some are fine). I am tempted to go up there and start gutting the bathrooms myself, however now I have a blog to write! Seriously, I appreciate your comments and am learning things myself through them. Please feel free to forward the link to the blog to friends - whether they have kids in school or not.
Part of having a successful school system is having COMMUNITY support (not just parental). Speaking of that, I feel as if FWCHS possibly/maybe/might not be receiving as much support from the Fayette County community as it deserves. I am just as guilty as anyone to this point - before my son was directly involved I didn't think much about looking into/supporting FWCHS. I only attended one football game - I think in the year 2000 - and have only been there for school board meetings or Cross Country meets with my older son while he was at FA. In my hometown EVERYONE (well, just about) attended high school sporting events and knew what was going on at the public high school. We had businesses/organizations donating money, supplies and time to different school events. My hope is that each year this aspect of support grows for FWCHS. All taxpayers have a vested interest in making a school system great (property values anyone & future residents anyone???) - I just wish more people would realize that!
My son said he's making friends at school - both other freshmen and upperclassmen. He saw his Cross Country captain at WalMart tonight and seems to like him a lot. The kid (who is older) was nice enough to come talk to my son and recognize him, etc. So far no bullying or other types of negative behavior towards my son from anyone. He is adjusting to the demands of the new schedule and has begun to crack down on his two page Science vocab. Can anyone refresh me on Boyle's Law??? I had to quiz him and I forgot how much I once knew.
So, that's it for Day 5. As my hands are cramping up I wonder if I'll make it to Day 25!
p.s. I was conversing with a friend tonight who is the mother of two FA students (one just graduated and one is still in high school). I was telling her about my son being at FWCHS this year and that we were putting tuition money towards a college fund instead. She said something poignant to me after explaining that until her son graduated recently her tuition bill for two kids was about $1000 a month (which adds up to $10,000 - $11,000 a year depending on how many months are on your payment plan). She said, "You know, paying tuition at FA has kept me broke for years." Just thought that was interesting - I'm wondering what anyone would do with an extra $10,000 - $11,000 a year????
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