The Clueless Girl's Guide to Being a Genius by Janice Repka

Author:Janice Repka
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2011-06-30T21:00:00+00:00

13

Aphrodite Dresses Up

In many ways, people are like spiders. Not just because they both have hairy legs and can act creepy. Spiders are creatures of habit, but every now and then, one of them surprises you. Take Romeo and Juliet, for example. After we found Romeo sitting on Mr. Ripple’s head, Mr. Green caught him and took him back to his tank in the biology room. I figured Juliet would sense danger and stay hidden. Instead, she played dead in the middle of the room, as if she wanted to be caught so she could be returned to the tank next to Romeo’s. That was so unexpected.

Just like, when I approached Mindy in the hallway at school, I wasn’t expecting her to ask me if I was going to the Spring Fling, and I certainly wasn’t expecting her to agree to go dress shopping at the mall with me. I’d never had a friend my own age before. It was weird—good weird, but weird.

The teachers’ lounge had become more relaxing (although less interesting) since the spiders had been caught. I unwrapped my tuna salad sandwich and was about to take a bite when the phone let out a shrill ring.

“It’s for you,” Mr. Ripple said. “Probably another complaint about your field trip.”

Already, I had gotten three calls from parents who questioned why I took their children to a pool hall and demanded that I secure signed field-trip forms in the future. I braced myself to defend the field trip again.

“This is Jeffrey Paul Phillips, local-interest reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper. I read the article that was printed a few weeks back about you in the Carnegie Signal Item.”

I recalled my encounter with the Signal Item reporter, Stanley Butera. His article about me had focused on my E + C = MW teaching method for remedial students.

“I heard about what’s been going on at Carnegie Middle School, and our readers are interested to know more.”

I sighed, expecting to be ridiculed in print for taking my students to the pool hall. “I realize my teaching methods may be unusual, but you don’t give an antacid to a patient in cardiac arrest.”

“Great quote,” said the reporter. “I want to hear more about your new teaching method. But first, tell me, what was your reaction when you learned that there had been a forty-eight percent increase in math aptitude test scores among students in your classroom?”

“When did I learn what?” I asked.

“No need to be coy, Professor Wigglesmith. I’m talking about test scores that were released by the Department of Education this morning. Your class has achieved the single-highest increase among students in the state. How does that make you feel?”

My stunned silence answered his question. I knew my students were improving, but even I was dumbfounded by how much. Suddenly, Principal DeGuy appeared. “Aphrodite, you have a call on the line in my office. It’s Channel Four news.” He took the phone from me. “She’ll have to call you back.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.