Carrie Link

HIGH AS A KITE

Had conferences at Woohoo's high school yesterday - it's like speed dating, 3 minutes per teacher then off you go to the next one, as each teacher is lined up alphabetically in either the cafeteria or library.

STM and I, neither of us patient line waiters, divided and conquered, but my "date" got done in time for me to slip over to one of his, Woohoo's health teacher.

Can I just say, I LOVE THIS MAN? First of all, this is a Catholic high school, and he's a Buddhist. I don't have to tell you how tickled that makes me. He rings Tibetan bells at the start of class and the kids must have quiet bodies and mouths, and ideally minds, by the time the bell fades out.

Then he has the class chant, "May all that we do here today, bring us both honor and joy."

The first unit? Tai Chi.

When we finally got around to asking how Woohoo was doing, he said, "She's GREAT about getting into the material. She's HORRIBLE about keeping her mouth closed when it's time to move on."

We asked if we should intervene, as he said he doesn't have a seating chart, on purpose, because a big part of what he teaches is about choices, and how they affect outcome.

"No," he answered, "there's no need to intervene. As I tell the kids, success isn't an event, it's a pattern. We're working on her establishing a pattern of success."

This man may be my daughter's freshman health teacher, but he's already done much to improve mine.