Thursday, October 23, 2008

Red Ribbon Week

Tomorrow is the last day of Red Ribbon Week at OHS. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of students that have participated in dress up days. Special props to Destiny Robles who only knows one level of commitment, complete! I secretly hoped for an army of Perez clones on the "dress like your favorite teacher day". It fed the dictator in me that very quickly had to be supressed when I envisioned an army of me, marching in formation. But then the vision gets weird and we (all of the me's, them's...I guess)start dancing around like the zombie dancers in the Micheal Jackson "Thriller" Video. If you haven't seen it, treat yourself and have a good laugh on the 80's; I won't be the last. Ha Ha. I guess I will have to keep my day job! Sorry, back on topic now...So I was impressed with number of students who participated in the Red Ribbon Week activities. I know that there are a good number of kids who struggle secretly with addictions or have a close friend who might, and not all of them drug related. If I could just encourage you to get help from family and friends. Don't believe that lie about "what you do only affects yourself". No person is alone, ever, no matter how alone they might feel.

Monday, October 6, 2008

1st Qrter blues....

The first Quarter is a real killer for most people. It is that sucker-punch that you only caught out of the corner of your eye. School starts up and every teacher is off and running to get as much as they can out of the time they have. I guess that I am only different in that I really don't want to be that way. My apologies to any that I have offended with my blanket statement, but truly it is a sprint to the end of the year. Every time the year threatens to drown me I have to muster up some courage to fight back. Don't even pretend that you don't know what I am talking about! I think on some level I really enjoy the challenge of what I do and how I do it, but; it does wear on the soul a bit, narrowing us down and thinning us out so that you can see through us to the other side.
With the close of the 1st Quarter and countless, "Mr. Perez...what is my grade?" comes a small amount of relief. Regardless of what grade you may have received, let me encourage you to keep your head in what you are doing. Work hard at working hard and don't let up until Christmas. For parents, don't be so busy with life that you kids are unable to keep up with their schooling. Crazy schedules makes for difficult time studying and completing projects. When you feeling giving up, don't. That feeling just means that you are on the verge of a great accomplishment.

PS, here is a link to the old site...my lease runs out in November so I am sure to lose all of the stuff there.