included information on strokes in my presentation. I learned a lot about them, and heart attacks, too. Mom and I continued to work with Barney for several weeks. We helped him use his walker until he regained his strength and could walk on his own two feet again. It felt great!
“You really like helping all those old farts and senile geezers?” Peter joked after hearing me talk about my visits. He sounded like it was hard for him to believe.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
“Cool.” Peter didn’t say anything more. He could tell I was serious.
“And she’s great at it,” Jeffrey added. “I’ve seen her in action.”
I smiled. Jeffrey was right. I
was
great at it.
november
F ADE IN: There is a knock at the door, and in walks MRS. WILLIAMS. We see her look at the floor and gingerly walk across it, obviously making sure she doesn’t slip and crash-land with her underwear showing like last year .
MR. TERUPT
(at the front of the room)
Okay, gang. Mrs. Williams is here with an important announcement, so please give her your attention.
MR. TERUPT walks over to his desk, once again stopping to hold on to it for a few seconds before sitting down .
CUT TO: MRS. WILLIAMS standing at the front of the room .
JESSICA VO
We saw a lot of Mrs. Williams. Between last year and Jeffrey showing up with a baby this year, we’d been through a lot with her. We were special to her, and she had become special to us. That’s one of the things that can happen when you go through a tragedy together—everyone involved ends up closer. But for Mr. Terupt to take the time to formally get our attention, and for him to call Mrs. Williams’s news “an important announcement,” suggested something serious. I had no idea what was coming.
MRS. WILLIAMS
Good morning, everyone. It’s always nice to come and see this class. I’m here to tell you that Snow Hill School has been awarded a grant for what is best described as an exchange program. The state has awarded us money to use toward collaboration with the other sixth grades in our region. You will be getting together with the students from Woods View School two or three times this year.
LUKE lets out a sigh in exasperation. He gets surprised looks from many in the room after his out-of-character reaction .
MRS. WILLIAMS
The first get-together will be in just a couple of weeks. At that time you’ll be required to work on projects in groups. Your groups should be made up of a few of you with a few of them.
LUKE
(not thrilled)
Why does the state want to pay for that?
MRS. WILLIAMS
Because we’re interested in giving you opportunities to meet and make friends with the kids you’ll be going to junior high school with next year. The state always likes to promote programs that ask students to work together.
LEXIE
(leaning over to Jessica)
This is our chance to meet some boys.
PETER
(while staring down at his desk, playing with an eraser)
We already work together in this classroom. Why do we have to do it with outsiders?
(under his breath)
It’s not like I’ll be in school with them next year anyway.
LUKE
What sorts of projects are we talking about?
JEFFREY
(grumbling)
Doesn’t matter.
MR. TERUPT gets up from his desk and walks to the front of the room and stands by MRS. WILLIAMS .
MR. TERUPT
Luke, since we’re getting money from the state, we can do some bigger projects. You’ll like it, trust me. In fact, we’re going to be starting an oceanography unit in the next few days, and our first exchange project will be something special to go along with that.
LUKE’s face brightens. He rubs his hands together in a way that tells us he can’t wait to get started .
LUKE
(excited)
Oceanography! Awesome! I’ve been thinking I might want to study marine science when I get older. Can you believe only ten percent of the world’s oceans have been explored? There’s all kinds of observations and discoveries waiting to be made!
CLASS laughs at LUKE’s
“You really like helping all those old farts and senile geezers?” Peter joked after hearing me talk about my visits. He sounded like it was hard for him to believe.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
“Cool.” Peter didn’t say anything more. He could tell I was serious.
“And she’s great at it,” Jeffrey added. “I’ve seen her in action.”
I smiled. Jeffrey was right. I
was
great at it.
november
F ADE IN: There is a knock at the door, and in walks MRS. WILLIAMS. We see her look at the floor and gingerly walk across it, obviously making sure she doesn’t slip and crash-land with her underwear showing like last year .
MR. TERUPT
(at the front of the room)
Okay, gang. Mrs. Williams is here with an important announcement, so please give her your attention.
MR. TERUPT walks over to his desk, once again stopping to hold on to it for a few seconds before sitting down .
CUT TO: MRS. WILLIAMS standing at the front of the room .
JESSICA VO
We saw a lot of Mrs. Williams. Between last year and Jeffrey showing up with a baby this year, we’d been through a lot with her. We were special to her, and she had become special to us. That’s one of the things that can happen when you go through a tragedy together—everyone involved ends up closer. But for Mr. Terupt to take the time to formally get our attention, and for him to call Mrs. Williams’s news “an important announcement,” suggested something serious. I had no idea what was coming.
MRS. WILLIAMS
Good morning, everyone. It’s always nice to come and see this class. I’m here to tell you that Snow Hill School has been awarded a grant for what is best described as an exchange program. The state has awarded us money to use toward collaboration with the other sixth grades in our region. You will be getting together with the students from Woods View School two or three times this year.
LUKE lets out a sigh in exasperation. He gets surprised looks from many in the room after his out-of-character reaction .
MRS. WILLIAMS
The first get-together will be in just a couple of weeks. At that time you’ll be required to work on projects in groups. Your groups should be made up of a few of you with a few of them.
LUKE
(not thrilled)
Why does the state want to pay for that?
MRS. WILLIAMS
Because we’re interested in giving you opportunities to meet and make friends with the kids you’ll be going to junior high school with next year. The state always likes to promote programs that ask students to work together.
LEXIE
(leaning over to Jessica)
This is our chance to meet some boys.
PETER
(while staring down at his desk, playing with an eraser)
We already work together in this classroom. Why do we have to do it with outsiders?
(under his breath)
It’s not like I’ll be in school with them next year anyway.
LUKE
What sorts of projects are we talking about?
JEFFREY
(grumbling)
Doesn’t matter.
MR. TERUPT gets up from his desk and walks to the front of the room and stands by MRS. WILLIAMS .
MR. TERUPT
Luke, since we’re getting money from the state, we can do some bigger projects. You’ll like it, trust me. In fact, we’re going to be starting an oceanography unit in the next few days, and our first exchange project will be something special to go along with that.
LUKE’s face brightens. He rubs his hands together in a way that tells us he can’t wait to get started .
LUKE
(excited)
Oceanography! Awesome! I’ve been thinking I might want to study marine science when I get older. Can you believe only ten percent of the world’s oceans have been explored? There’s all kinds of observations and discoveries waiting to be made!
CLASS laughs at LUKE’s
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