Today, Ted and I went back to our school volunteer duties.  He is working with the same teacher as last year and has two new second graders who need to improve their reading skills.  He said they are great kids and are very excited about reading with him.

The secretary and several of the teachers were so happy to have me back, they hugged me when I arrived at the Success School.  I worked with three students today and had a good time.  Ted, my student from last year, has decided to take the GED Options class.  I’m so glad!  He has several more failed classes to repeat, and will have a much better chance of graduating with his class if he spends the year preparing for his GED.

The classroom in which I tutored a few times last year got a facelift over the summer.  The washer and dryer are still there, but all the miscellaneous junk has been moved to a far corner in the “L” of the room and has been replaced with tables and chairs.  The ceiling-hung electric cords for the power tools have been replaced with arts and crafts-style colorful felt parrots hanging from the ceiling.  (I wonder who came up with the parrot theme.)  The room is now used for the daily opening assembly, among other things, and looks pretty good.

Best of all, I had a happy surprise.  As I walked toward the office between classes, I recognized the woman coming out.  It was Cat, one of my former GED teachers.  I knew she was working for the St. Charles School District, but I didn’t know she was working with the Success School kids.  We had a brief and happy reunion.  She was a very good GED teacher and, for her masters thesis, she put together a How to Get Your GED in 60 Days book with a study curriculum for each day.  Another one of my former GED teachers works as a part-time counselor at the Success School.  We GED teachers love to help the underdogs in academia.  It’s a small world, for sure, to have three of us from the SCC GED program all working with the same kids now.