There were multiple moments on Friday that made me realize how unique Montgomery is and how closely it resembles a the kind of high school you'd see in an all-American movie.
My students are awesome. I know there are Ridge students reading this and I don't want anyone to mistake what I'm saying here. I loved the students I got to know at Ridge too, especially those in the marching band and on the newspaper staff. The kids I know at Montgomery, I've known for four days (or a couple weeks for some of the band kids) and already they are going out of their way to say hi to me in hallways, politely greet me on their way into class and some even say thank you on their way out each day.
During the four days of class last week, I've been most impressed. On day one, one upper class student in USII took out a cell phone and gave me a little sarcasm when I confronted him on it. Since then, they've been angelic. It's a little bit scary. Case in point...on Friday, I stood at my door until the bell rang and then went in to a classroom of juniors talking to one another, looking over notes for a quiz on some reading - you know, the usual. With no small talk or time killing, I handed out a blank piece of paper to ask them the quick two questions about the reading they did. Absolute silence. As they passed their quiz papers up...absolute silence. I had asked during the first reading quiz two days earlier that they not talk until after I collect all of them and so...they didn't. This may seem basic, but this is not what happens in upper class high school classrooms. They began talking as soon as I had all the quizzes, but when I got to the front of the room to quickly review the answers, they were respectful immediately.
On Tuesday or Wednesday, I referenced an episode of
The Simpsons that deals with Prohibition, which we were talking about in class. On Friday, one of the juniors brought me the entire season that includes that episode so I could take a look at it and use it if I wanted. No prompting, just to help out.
I've been putting a lot of information up on my district website for students so they can download course materials and look at follow-up information or related websites if they are interested. This was always my long-term vision for my sociology classes at Ridge - that I'd be able to use online resources to keep the students engaged outside of class so they would get more deeply engrossed in the topics we were talking about in school. When I started talking about a video clip from
Fast Food Nation we were going to watch in class, one students asked if it was the one I linked to on my web site. He had already gone on and checked out the resources I provided there. Today, I received a completed assignment from a student that I haven't even assigned yet. It's on the website, but not due until Thursday of this coming week. Another student just e-mailed me a link to a source that gives some more detail and visuals on something we covered in class last week.
At the end of my last class on Friday, one of the trumpet players in the marching band asked if I was coming to the football game that night. I said no because I hadn't planned on it. Once a football player heard that, he said, "Why should we even play then?" I know that sounds sarcastic, but he said it in a way that indicated he'd really appreciate my going out of the way to support what they were doing. I have quite a few football players in my classes, plus my part time role on the marching band staff, so I decided to head out.
I got there just as the band was lining up to march to the stadium. The whole game environment was as close to Friday Night Lights as New Jersey public schools get. The small home stands were packed before the game even started, the students streamed in throughout the first quarter, the Montgomery band played the school's fight song (unique to them, not a college copy) as Cougar growls came over the loudspeakers. Before the game even started, the announcer thanked the visiting team, cheerleaders, band members and fans for making the trip to Montgomery and wished them a safe trip home. I think it was some Twilight Zone situation. It was All-America, tv perfect with a clear, cool night and a huge win for the home team. Everything felt right, like tradition dictated how the night should go. But the football team is only in its fifth year of existence! I'm sure I'll find out that the football captain and cheerleading captain are homecoming king and queen this year.
Just to be clear, I don't really think Montgomery is perfect. Like Ridge and other wealthy areas in central New Jersey, drugs and drinking are huge issues as students spend considerable amounts of time unsupervised with access to money. Stress is a big problem as students compete to go to Ivy League schools and are pressured to do a million things in school and out. Maybe I'm just lucky and my 124 students are the best 124 in the building. That could be I suppose, but it feels like a good place.
