Observation

I went to a meeting the other night.  I know just another meeting, nothing new.  However, my observation of the composition of the meeting was different for me. Actually it was interesting to me because of my vantage point. I'm a retired elementary school teacher who mostly frequents places where people my age go: church, daytime shopping (everyone else is working), retired friends in Florida, retired friends in Montana, volunteer groups at the library, etc.  Even when I was teaching, most of the teachers in the school were nearing retirement, like me, so our meetings looked a lot like us. You get the picture.

So the composite of the meeting for building spirit in the schools and community among the youth in Lewistown was a whole new experience for me.  I walked into a room with viral young male and athletic young female teachers and coaches, with a smattering of young parents. I was very decidedly the old person in the room, in a generation all my own.

When they shared their experiences from high school, I just had to let them know how really old I am by sharing mine: sock hop, the old school building, the old Happy Day's scene.. Yet, I noticed that a lot of my experiences as a teen had a lot of commonalities with theirs and those are the experiences they wanted to revive for the kids: elaborate float making, bonfire rallies, recognizing the importance of every event at school and a  great relationship with the community.

Finally, they talked about how the kids could give back to the community with service projects for the kids.  That's when I jumped right in, sharing the ROWL recycling plan and how the kids could become involved. I had my proposal all ready and handed it out for everyone to see. They acted like they thought it was right up the alley of what they were looking for, it seemed.  Or maybe they were just patting the old lady on the head and saying, "There, there, Dearie, it will be okay".  Time will tell.