My Corner for Education

We had pouring rain on and off all day long. Snow had been longgone in this part of Ontario. A few days ago, spring arrived andalso brought thunder and lightning along. We don’t normally hearthe rain or thunder inside the concrete school building; however,it is a different story when we are out in a portable. A portableis shaped like a trailer box which is supposed to be used as atemporary classroom. Unfortunately, in a city where population ison the rise, portables have become permanent fixtures to manyschools in Ontario. The brand new school in my neighborhood alreadyhas 9 portables in her second year.

Our school is in an older neighborhood where students’ enrollmenthas been declining every year. Since the school was open, we hadthese porta-pad classrooms for ten classes for the last 16 years.Finally, our school got the opportunity to renovate and build newwings to attach to the main building. A large portion of our schoolwas torn down and has been under construction since October2006.

My class is one the nine classes that have to be temporarily placedin portables. I call it “a cottage” because it is like having aclass in the great outdoor. When I open the windows, I can seegreen grass and tall trees in the park. The scenery is very eyes-soothingfor us in the portable. For days like today, I could see the flashes oflightning and the rumbling of thunder all day today. It is too badthat I left school a bit early today and missed the hailstorm. Apparently,the hails, each shaped like a flat rounded coin, came down sosuddenly. I was just on the highway on my way home when I wascaught in the thunderstorm. A hailstorm is rare. I unfortunatelydid not get to see the hails. Can you imagine thousands offlattened ice marbles dropping on top of your roof? How cool isthat! (Of course, it could be dangerous, too.)

Spring is always a rainy season here in Canada. It is wet and damp.That’s why we say, "April showers bring May flowers." Well, we stillhave to wait a while till May though. Today I finally put on myfirst ever rain boots which I bought two days ago. I had neverowned a pair of rain boots before. With the weather like today, Ireally did not have a choice but putting them on.

My problem started with the construction. Our portables aresituated quite far away from the main school building. Whenever thesnow is melting or the rain is gushing down, the pavement betweenour portables and the building creates a perfect “lake”. On top ofthat, the construction trucks and bobcats carry mud everywhere.Whenever kids run through the muddy schoolyard, the water from thisextensive mud puddle splashes on their backs all the way from heelsup to their heads. Their jackets, boots and snow pants are SO messybeyond their control. I say “beyond control” because we adults getmud everywhere on our pants as well. It is so GROSS! The trip tothe office has become so unbearable, and I had ruined my brand newboots through the past winter season. My steam finally let off likea kettle! I can not stand it any longer. From now on until the endof the construction, which seems to be no end in sight, I amgoing to wear my sky blue rubber boots just like the other teachersin the portable zone. We call it our Spring Fashion of 2007.