The Avid Reader (and enjoyer of all subjects)

Back in 7th grade, in the middle of the school year my parents signed me up for Carnage Middle School.  Carnage is an AG Magnet Middle School, so if I would get accepted I would be in the same classroom as people in AG, and it also offers Algebra II as a course in 8th grade.  When we got back a letter from WCPSS, I immediately opened the letter and was overjoyed to discover that I could attend Carnage!  The rest of 7th grade passed very quickly, and before I knew it I had to say a sorrowful farewell to my 7th grade teachers, who I will remember forever.

On the first day of school at Carnage, I was shaken awake by my mom at 6:00.  Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I brushed my teeth lethargically, stuffed some slices of chocolate muffin into my mouth, and jumped into my mom’s car, which takes me to Morrisville Elementary.  Every day an Express bus stops at Morrisville Elementary, picking up everyone attending Carnage, Ligon, and Enloe (yes, we do have to share buses).  The first day of school everyone seemed awkward, with few friends they talk to.  I talk a bit with Roy and his friend Tony.  Then the bus pulls up, and we line up to board it.  The bus is already filled, so we must sit two-to-a-seat.  Enloe students sit in the back of the bus; the middle-school students occupy the front section.  I close my eyes, pining for rest as the bus rumbles on its way. 

After half an hour, we arrive at Enloe, which will always be our first stop.  The William G. Enloe High School is one of the best high schools in North Carolina.  It takes almost another half hour to wait for all the cars and buses to pass by, as the area is very busy.  I recognize this place from February when I took the SAT here. 

Soon, after loading, we pull up by Carnage.  This is not our usual second stop; the usual second stop is Ligon.  A bunch of students get off the bus and enter the side door.  On the first day of school, there are signs and posters instructing all eighth graders to report to the auditorium, which is (I think) bigger than Davis Drive’s auditorium.  I barely recognize anyone in the auditorium except for a few Davis Drive kids (who I will not name for security reasons).  A few minutes later, our 8th grade principal, Ms. Watson, calls students to follow their teachers to their classrooms based on what team they were on.  I am on the Pirates team, the AG team of 8th grade.  The Pirates team this year has over 120 students, even more than 7th grade at Davis Drive.  We are the last to be called.  I am in Ms. Armstrong’s, the language arts teacher, homeroom, so when Ms. Armstrong calls her homeroom to line up I squeeze through the aisle and get in the line.

We are lead to a classroom not far away from the auditorium, where we stop.  I notice some numbers on a pink slip of paper taped by the doorway, labeled Magnet Number, and wonder what that could refer to.  Ms. Armstrong shows us our seats by alphabetical order.  I don’t know anyone in my class, though I’ve seen one of the students in my homeroom at my Chinese school.

Next, we pass up our school supplies.  Because of the economic recession, many schools don’t have enough money to buy the needed supplies in the classroom, so us students are required to bring them.  Boys are supposed to bring a stack of paper.  I pass my stack up.

Then, Mrs. Armstrong leads us to the auditorium.  The teachers then give us a presentation about the rules of the team, the expectations, rewards/consequences, etc.  Ms. Church, the social studies teacher, also tells us that our first (and only, depending on our behavior) field trip will be to Bethabara in Old Salem, where Germans from Europe first settled in present-day North Carolina.  There will be two rotations:  one at the learning area and one doing hands-on activities.  The rotations will switch to the other station at around noon. 

Then, Ms. Armstrong explains to us our schedule for the first two days.  We will rotate around the team, doing activities at each place.  First, we go to Ms. Church, then Ms. Jerread (Spanish), then Ms. O’Rawe (Math), and finally Ms. Lucas (Science).  In the four core classes the teachers give us expectations for their classes, and in Ms. Jerread’s class we play a rules game.  During Ms. Jerread’s class the ecology teacher at Carnage, Ms. Knapp, picks the new students up and gives us a short 20-minute tour around the school campus.  We get to see Carnage’s greenhouse, a model wetland, and a model garden.  I think Carnage is the only middle school in Wake County which has it’s own greenhouse.  (That’s from Wikipedia, by the way, so you guys might want to double-check )

After we get to all our classes, school is over.  I am confused, and just happen to bump into Roy without his backpack.  He says we have to report to our bus rooms, so I quickly run after him.  Roy tells me our bus’s room (our bus is Route 567).  The teacher is the manager of the short stories elective at Carnage.  We have to wait for almost half an hour before the number 567 is announced on the loudspeaker.  The teacher tells us to protest to our bus driver to be on time.  We all shuffle out of the classroom, go down the stairs, and go out the side door to the bus loop, where we see the bus bearing the number 567 in black paint.  Then, we all find seats on the bus.  The bus is already full after arriving at Ligon.  (Enloe will be the next and last stop.)  I find an empty seat and talk to one of the new friends I’ve made, Eddy.  As the bus speeds towards home, I feel excited for the days that will follow at my new school.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.