Ms. Kay Sells Alcohol at School
So I was voluntold to oversee Spirit Week. I didn't have to be voluntold; I would've gladly volunteered. I love doing stuff like that. I pride myself on being more creative than the average person. I had it all sorted out with the themes. I mean the whole nine yards! The problem was that my vision was bigger than the budget.
Mr. Franklin said that I needed to bring it down a few notches, but one thing about me - when I set my mind on something, I can't change it. I asked him could we fundraise for the remaining funds. Once he gave the green light, it was go time for me! I spoke with some of my fellow teachers and Jon, the 8th grade science teacher, suggested that I invite parents to participate.
I immediately began drafting my letter to send to parents:
Dear PMS Family,
I have been charged with the honor of planning Spirit Week. Our little lions deserve a week filled with fun and joy, but we can't have the fun without the funds. I am humbly asking you to help us raise the remaining money to ensure that Spirit Week is a success. We are short $1200. I am confident that we can do it if we all chip in. Many hands make light work, or in this case, many hands make money! No amount is too small.
Sincerely,
Ms. Kay
Paledo Middle School
7th grade Reading
Once I felt the letter was ready to go, I tried sending it via ParentChain, our internal messaging system. For some reason, the ParentChain translation function wouldn't work, and the last thing I wanted to do was exclude my Spanish-speaking families. I remember seeing Mr. Rodriguez in his classroom, so I decided to ask him to translate the letter for me.
"Hey, Mr. Rodriguez! I hope I'm not disturbing you, but can you do me a huge favor?"
"Sure," he replied. "What is it?"
"I need to get this letter sent out for Spirit Week, but our translation service is down, and I don't want to use Google. That tends to be hit or miss from what parents have shared with me in the past."
"When do you need it?" said Mr. Rodriguez. "I can do it on my conference period."
"That would be perfect! Thank you so much. I'll email the draft to you now."
During my lunch, Mr. Rodriguez stopped by my room to let me know that he emailed the Spanish version of my letter.
"Thank you again for doing that! You're a life-saver."
"Oh, Ms. Kay, you know I got your back!"
I hurried to send out my original version and the Spanish version that Mr. Rodriguez emailed me. I wanted to get it done before my lunch period ended. "Boom! Send!" I think I was more excited than the students for Spirit Week. However, all that excitement came crashing down when Dominique Jackson, the 8th grade Humanities teacher who also served as the Reading and Humanities department chair, came to my class. She had a hall monitor with her.
"Ms. Kay, I'm going to have Mr. Paul step into your class for a moment. I need to talk to you if you don't mind."
Feeling a bit uneasy, I walked into the hallway with her. Ms. Jackson wasn't the friendliest person and honestly, I was a bit intimidated by her. Once Mr. Paul went into the class, Ms. Jackson made sure to shut the door before speaking to me.
"Girl, are you stupid or estúpida?" Ms. Jackson stood there looking at me as if I was supposed to answer her insulting question.
"I'm sorry, I'm not following you." I was so confused.
Ms. Jackson began to enlighten me. "I just left Mr. Franklin's office. He is being flooded with calls about your email. Did you even proofread what you sent out for Spirit Week?"
"Ok, wait! Now, I'm really confused. What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You're Spanish version basically said that you're trying to raise money for alcohol. You used spirits as if it were for drinking. Chile, what were you thinking?"
I couldn't believe it. "I didn't write the Spanish version. I asked Mr. Rodriguez to translate it for me. He's the Spanish teacher. How was I supposed to know he would mess it up?"
Ms. Jackson shook her head. "So you are estúpida? Why would you ask that man to help you with anything? You took Spirit Week right from underneath him. That's his supposed claim to fame even though he sucked at planning it. You got played. The only mess that happened was that Mr. Rodriguez decided to mess with you."
And with that, I stormed off to Mr. Rodriguez's class. "Mr. Rodriguez!" I shouted. His students all looked up, clearly startled. "You're trying to sabotage me. What happened to, 'I got your back?'"
He didn't even attempt to deny it. He simply smirked at me and said, "Oh, I guess I meant watch your back."
Oh and if you're wondering, here's what parents received in their email:
Estimada familia de PMS:
Se me ha encomendado el honor de reunir los espíritus de la semana. Nuestros pequeños leones verán fantasmas toda la semana con la cantidad de diversión que los maestros planean tener. No podemos divertirnos sin los fondos. Le pido humildemente que nos ayude a recaudar los $ 1200 restantes para bebidas espirituosas para asegurar que la semana sea un éxito. Estoy seguro de que con un poco de entusiasmo podremos hacerlo. ¡Muchas manos hacen dinero! la cantidad es demasiado pequeña.
Atentamente,
Sra. Kay
Escuela Intermedia Paledo
Lectura de séptimo grado