Guidance

The Boy and I sat in the counselor's office at the high school in June making sure he had a schedule for the 2010-11 school year. She suggested that we call in August so he could walk through the building and find his way around before the first day. This morning Evan phoned to discover that he has a new counselor. The new guidance counselor could not find him in the computer system. Uh-oh. The grades from summer school reflected that Evan had received A's for both sessions, and he has been diligently running mile after mile with the Cross Country Team. Despite these activities that would seem to indicate his status as a student of Pleasant Suburban Independent School District, a glitch had caused him to be un-enrolled. Eh? Oh.but.no.
A flash of, "Say what?! Really?!" burst out, but was quickly contained. Assuring the counselor that we would be right over with a set of new registration documents including shot records and proof of residency, the phone was replaced in the base while Mama steamed. Some choice words were spoken, and the Boy and I hopped in the car to run over to the school right away. After registering our son for high school, I walked with him back to the front office. We waited until the counselor came to retrieve us so that a schedule could be created. The last counselor signed Evan up for the least challenging possible schedule and seemed less than enthusiastic when he insisted on taking Latin. It was not an experience that built our kid up, and it was not one that really needed repetition.

Except that sometimes a re-do is exactly the thing. The new counselor who we met with today? Was all over the Boy. He took one look at test scores, previous grades, and began to ask questions. In the end, Evan signed up for classes that likely will challenge him, and he has received a thorough pep talk and words of encouragement from a guidance counselor who clearly has a passion for seeing kids work to reach their potential. He even left with the assurance that his final schedule had been created complete with first period Athletics, the surprise of an AP History class, and the much-desired Latin class.