Common Sense Education: May 2016

You are in high school and you are working (at least giving all of your effort anyway) to do all you can to try and graduate. You never would dream of having to go to summer school unless it's to try to get ahead. Well, summer school was not the case for me. The reason that I had to go to summer school was because I had got 4 F's in 4 classes and the only alternative for me was to go to summer school. I will never forget at 18 in 1996 how I had to go somewhere that I never thought I would spend the majority of summer at and that being summer school (ouch). I had perhaps the worst year my junior year of high school. I had a chance to think really long and hard thinking to myself my "could haves, should haves, and would haves" while being in summer school for 6 long weeks. I was thinking if I could rewind and "turn back the clock" and say that the grades that I got for first marking period were the only grades that counted in high school then I wouldn't even have to go to summer school. However, that would be a "pipe dream" because I had a chance to do really well and realized how much I "dug myself into a hole" that there was no way I could avoid going to summer school. I worked so hard my sophomore year of high school to avoid going to summer school for Sophomore English by getting a good enough grade on my final (barely getting by with a 60 or higher).

Meanwhile, I put myself in this predicament and I had "no one to blame but myself" for failing the following classes: Gym where I got a 59, ( I asked the teacher if she could give me an extra point where I would pass with a 60 but she said no and I didn't deserve it anyway because I skipped class during Senior skip day when I was a Junior), Chemistry, (which I learned that I didn't need that class to graduate anyway until after I took it), Geometry, and Junior English. Summer school was held at Hall high school in West Hartford and it was me & a hand full of classmates from Bloomfield high school that came to the high school and rode the school bus to Hall high school. Some were 3-weekers and others like myself were 6-weekers. Summer school was in the morning for 4-5 hours a day and 5 days a week. The first 3 weeks I didn't learn until after I finished the first English class that I was in (strictly a writing essay class) that I was in the wrong English class (not my fault). I got credit anyway and then it was on to the next 3 weeks of English class, me along with a hand full of classmates took Computer writing English class. The English class that I was in was more of a chill computer writing English class where I would write about anything creative and fun into a great story! This class you could say was kind of like creative writing. For fun we would mostly play Tetris on the computer (which I was terrible then now pretty good at now, lol). For those who are not much of a gamer, Tetris was a game that came out on regular Nintendo game boy in 1989. After my 3 weeks were up for the English class I got credit for Junior English (Hall high wrote a note to Bloomfield high that I made up Junior English).

In the meantime, I had to register for classes to make up for failing gym by 1 point my Junior year of high school. I had no time to feel sorry for myself because I did this to myself. The classes were Tennis & Swimming that I had to take and they were in the evening from 6:00 PM- 7:30PM at Carmen Arace Middle school in Bloomfield. They were broken up into 3 weeks sessions. For the first 3 weeks I took swimming because I wanted to get that class out of the way (I also can't swim & still can't swim till this day). However, I knew I couldn't swim and needed to practice. Swimming class was everyday 5 days a week (one day swimming class was canceled because of thunder). I remember going into the water and learning how to float and in that 3 week time span I remember having only one week left to show the teacher how much I have learned. I will never forget how I got to the point where I barely learned how to swim on the very last day of swimming class. I got credit for a great effort the 3 weeks that I took swimming class. After the 3 weeks of swimming was complete it was on to a chill sport in tennis for 3 weeks. I was not much of a tennis player but it didn't matter because it was all a form of exercise. I was full of energy and was motivated every day to come to class. I also was thinking how much I wasted time in school and how I had a chance to redeem myself for messing up in school like I did. What was really fun about playing tennis was playing a classmate or former students who graduated from Bloomfield high school. By the time the 3 weeks were up for tennis class I received credit for junior gym class. I was remembering how I had 2 weeks left of summer before my senior year of high school would start. I had a chance to go to the West Indian Parade (this was back when the West Indian Parades were still popular in Hartford) and I had a chance to reflect how I used to enjoy my summers of 3 month vacations and not having to go to summer school with the knuckle heads who chose this route (some classmates went to summer school every year). Once, I had a chance to think about my "would haves, could haves, and should haves" I had such an attitude that I was never going to go to summer school again.

Summer school is both good and bad. If you are trying to get ahead and stay focused then summer school is good. However, if are going to summer school because of failing courses that you have to make up then that's bad.