On The Sly

As the days rolled by I became very comfortable teaching at Chazy Central. My morning greeting committee of Lacey and Harley were always friendly. Then Tyson started leaving first period with "Have a good day, Mr. Foxy!" And the seniors friendliness seemed to carry throughout the entire class.

One day I quietly strolled into the cafeteria, only to be greeted by a group of seniors who started cheering "Foxy, Foxy, Foxy!" And the next day seventh grader Brianna wrote on the board "Foxy Rules!" And then senior Jesse brought me a Medieval Times moist towelette for my collection, and Marie showed me a picture from her spring-break vacation: Foxy Wrapped Lettuce! I knew things were going okay.

While we wrapped up the unit on The Red Badge of Courage and took on other tasks and the book Nothing But the Truth, I started having fun with the seniors. They found out more about me, and my favorite certain someone, and some of them shared bits and pieces of their lives as well.

The AP course was full of serious work like poetry and essays. But I ruined that one day when my cellphone rang during class. As I headed for the door as I answered it, my friend on the other end kiddingly yelled, "Heyyyyyy, Baby!!!!!" I made it to the hallway amidst laughter and returned a minute later stating, "It was a wrong number." I know they didn't buy that story!

All the seniors at Chazy have a traditional senior project. The amount of work and committment to complete this project is almost overwhelming. But this is one school where seniors truly do earn their graduation diploma. No easy-street senior year at Chazy.

Even the seventh graders got into the act, with ten of them joining me for lunch most days. There's nothing quite like seventh grade conversation and it was a throwback to my good old days at SMS.

I could not have survived the six weeks without a great deal of help and advice from Steve Patnode, the dedicated librarian, who became my lifeline with the seniors. And my English department colleagues, Shari Fall and Erena Fulton, always managed to point me in the right direction and kept the paperwork flowing.

I have so much admiration for Kathryn Brown, who returns to her job this week. Even though she wasn't in school I know she was working every day, correcting papers, overseeing senior projects and formulating lesson plans. The AP course students even managed two conference calls with her from the CCRS Board Room. The students love her and will be very happy to have her back in the classroom.

No other North Country school has the Chazy tradition of walking to an assembly, each homeroom student single file and silent, led by a student carrying an American flag. First the senior class and then the other classes, in order. All remain silent as they arrive at the auditorium, waiting for the announcement for the pledge to the flag. It is an amazing tradition, begun when they are in kindergarten and carried on through their senior year.

In six weeks I found myself a second home at Chazy Central. The students, no matter the grade, and the faculty and staff were friendly and gave me a chance to just be myself. It might sound funny to say I'll miss them all, when I can now return to my quiet life of retirement, videotaping and eBay, but I really will miss many things about Chazy Central.

Among them:
Chad and Sara in the front row, keeping me organized

Franc's high-five in the hallway

Victoria's smile each day -- that Gaelan is one lucky dude!

Brandy's smile everyday 7th period while she sat with Chad at the computer in the library -- For some reason, Chad was always smiling too, as he'd yell, "Mr. Foxyyyyyyyyy!"

Secretary Nancy Vesco's smile for me each day as I signed in

The four guys at "the funniest table" in 12-1

The guys at the same table in 12-2 who learned my "Zzzzzzzzz" and "Gung" sounds and will probably toss them my way the next time they see me

The kidding I took from 12-2 because I have a "younger-than-I" eBay secretary

Talking about the Montreal Canadiens hockey playoffs with Kyle and the boys -- there are a lot of hockey fans at CCRS. Some of these guys probably eat hockey pucks for breakfast

As I left on Friday, my first goodbye hug was from seventh grader Victoria. My first senior class hug was from Andrea. I even left a few things behind, like an autographed business card and moist towelette for Nick.

And Nolan, the soccer guy, and I are now business partners on eBay. And Jay the Artist is my business partner, too, working on my new North Country Cable Network brochures.

Like any high school, Chazy is full of athletes and musicians and artists and nice people in general. But the friendliness of everyone stands out. Maybe it's because they all attend the same school from the first day of kindergarten until the final day of their senior year. The seventh graders look up to the seniors. Maybe it's because they are all a part of such a successful community.

As I headed out the door for the final time, I met senior Eric Martin. We shook hands. I remarked how friendly everyone was during my stay. He looked me in the eye and said, "That's a Chazy tradition!"

Thanks, Chazy Central!