Weird.

One week into second semester, I'm loving it. Being able to see the classroom environment and interact with the kids daily instead of twice a week is fantastic. Last semester, I felt like I never knew what was happening with the kids because I was never here on consecutive days. They would ask me questions about what happened the day before or when something was due, and I didn't know the answer, which made me feel inadequate because I couldn't help them. So far it's been really nice to be able to get to know the kids on a new level and have them see me as part of the classroom. I already feel like I know them better after only having been back a week.
On a different and much more depressing note, today was a weird day at school- during second hour, the principal (Mr. White) was sitting in on our class and got a phone call that caused him to leave the room. Shortly after, my teacher got a phone call. And then there was an announcement telling all teachers to please check their email. The email explained that, during second hour, a 9th grader had fallen ill in gym class and was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Teachers were instructed to read the attached letter to their students during 6th hour, and to expect that some students may need psychological help from the crisis team that has been assembled in the career center. This whole situation is really surreal because this is the first time there has been a crisis since I've been at Pioneer (minus a few small things). To have this happen in your school is awful. Right now all of the teachers are aware of the situation, but the students have not been told anything yet. I wonder how they will handle the news. Personally, I feel very strange because I didn't know this kid at all, but for those who did I can only imagine what they must be going through. It's all so sudden. It will be interesting to see if the climate of the school changes at all throughout this week as people deal with the grief.