Back to Back to School

I spent Wednesday and Thursday evenings at back-to-back Back to School nights at San Jose Middle School and Novato High School.

I can only liken the nights to the speed dating you hear about. You've heard of those types of events, I'm sure. A bunch of men and women seeking to find true love rotate around a room, spending all of three or five or eight minutes meeting 1-on-1 with a potential suitor. In that brief period of time, you get to tell your life story in 30 seconds or less and hear someone else's life story in 30 seconds or less. The remaining minutes are spent really getting to know the other person.

That's what Back to School night is once your kids leave the environs of the elementary school. Bells ring to signify the date is up and you move onto the next potential love-of-your-life. Some have visual aids. Some rely on the power of their ability to hold your attention through words and stand-up acts alone. But in those mere minutes, you get a feel for who your kid hangs out with for 43 or 52 or 87 minutes each school day.

At San Jose, each teacher had a whole seven minutes to tell parents all about themselves, including their educational background and their philosophies of classwork and homework and tests. The 10 minutes each Novato High teacher had seemed downright luxurious in quantity. Let's face it, having 40 percent more time let those teachers actually breathe while speaking.

I appreciate the chance to get to know, albeit quite minimally, the folks interacting with my kids. I'm hopeful that we don't really ever get to know each other on a first-name basis, the type of relationship that comes from having a kid who doesn't do what's required or who gets into trouble. Only knowing them through seven-minute or 10-minute one-on-20 interactions is something I can get behind. I'm pretty sure they would all feel the same way.

My first impressions of all these new teachers in my kids' lives give me hope that our streak of their never having encountered a bad teacher will continue. Nearly all of them spoke of being available at lunch times and after school to help kids who need an extra push in a subject. Several have apparently spent their entire teaching careers eating lunch in their classrooms, doors wide open for kids in need.

There are many issues I feel completely justified in complaining about when it comes to the school district and its policies and actions. But when it comes down to the teachers, those men and women actually educating my children, I have only admiration and appreciation. Quite frankly, I'm happy to "date" them all. Now, if only they had a contract.