I received a call around 6:20 from the producer of the Paul Castronovo Show on BIG105.9. Rob asked me if I’d be able to talk around 6:40. I told him I’d be happy to, and rushed to finish getting ready for school. The show called as I was driving to school. Paul introduced me as his BFF and said that I was a “pretty tough lady.” We spoke about how yesterday went and what I expected today. I thanked him for allowing me to have a platform and a forum to keep the conversation going. When it gets quiet, change stops happening. He invited me to an event he’s hosting on Monday night. He said the event is a fundraiser for MSD; tickets are $250 each, and the event sold out in less than an hour. I was then asked to be Paul’s guest at the event.
There were far fewer media tents and police cars today as I drove into school. I was able to park close to my regular spot. I walked through the office and was overwhelmed by how many boxes, packages, envelopes, banners have been delivered to school. I made it up to my classroom, and got ready to begin my day.
During my first and second periods, my counselor friend Andie led the class in meditation. I turned off the lights. The students sank into their beanbag chairs, closed their eyes and drifted off into deep thought. They really enjoyed it, and said it helped them. Before the periods were over, we were visited by therapy dogs. It’s so funny how a puppy can just light up the room and turn tall 18 year-olds into giggling five year olds.
Third period wanted to just chill, play UNO and other card games, listen to music, color and talk with friends. I was totally ok with that. Fourth was much like my first two classes. It was very zen, which is what we all needed.
After school, I had a meeting with my yearbook editors. We discussed how we planned to cover all of the events over the past two weeks throughout the book. We decided to do profiles for each of the victims, and add coverage of specific events during this time. We all left feeling good about what we had done.