Well, in four years not much seems to have changed. How is it that every other aspect of education, culture, life has changed in the past eight years, but FCHS's graduation is still the same? I was impressed to see that the administration was at least a little less psychotic then the administration four years ago...when the class of 2006 was prepping for our graduation at Minges Colosseum, we were give rather strict instructions as to what would and WOULD NOT be allowed on the day of graduation. For instance, if we were to do more than casually stroll across the stage (like maybe to run, skip, jump, or Heaven forbid- DANCE across the stage) we would immediately be escorted from the ceremony and would not receive our diplomas. If we were to wear flip flops, if we weren't fully dressed under our robes, if we decorated our caps, if we threw our caps at the end of the ceremony, if we were found with silly string or a beachball, if we cheered for our friends from our seats, and who knows what else that I can't even remember right now...our School Resource Officer was waiting on site to promptly escort us out. You would think I was attending some sort of reform school rather than a low income, small town, public high school.Mason's graduation was much more relaxed (for most family's other than ours) and the administration didn't even fuss at the crowd for cheering for their graduates. An astounding improvement! Our family, as I hinted above, did not have quite the grand time that all the other families were able to experience on this most noble of days.
Mason learned early (my brother Duane and I were great examples) that he was smart enough to do very minimum work and still scrape by with decent grades. (He thinks his big head automatically mean he has big brains--big head shown to the left!) The problem is, since he learned this early on, he did not take the time to master the skill and was not aware of how to get ASTOUNDING grades, while still doing minimal work (if he would have asked, Duane and I would have shared our master skillz.) As he inched the climb to the end of his senior year and serious senioritis set in, Mason's grade in Calculus began a rapid decline. If he had done even some of his work, this problem probably would have resolved itself, but apparently whoever taught Mason biology, lead him to believe you actually can learn by diffusion. (Yes, I know most of you think the phrase is learning by osmosis, but you also learned wrong because osmosis is special diffusion of water.) It turns out that although Farmville has gotten less psychotic in some areas, it has really bunkered down on others...they wouldn't even tell us the day before graduation if Mason was going to actually graduate. We (and by we, I mean our parents) had bought the cap and gown, ordered senior pictures, and then got this loverly letter in the mail stating...Mason Dennison may not be eligible for graduation. Not till we saw him as part of the processional, did we know Mason was graduating from Farmville Central. Dumb.
**Note to self, don't ever be the jerk of a teacher that won't tell a student or his parents if he is going to actually pass the one class he needs to graduate**
So as the day goes, he walked across the stage, we cheered lots, took lots of pictures, made Jason take a lot of pictures, and had a grand ole day. We even had a graduation cookout (courtesy of my Uncle Tony) celebrating Mason's and my graduation. We were graced with the presence of close family and friends and Jason even got to meet some of our crazier members of the family. Poor Maggie had quite the bum of a time...for some reason she has recently become horribly scared of people, especially strangers, and shys away, hiding in corners and under tables. I am hoping that once I get her in my own house, away from her sister Izzy, that she will calm down and perk up, especially around people!
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