Short Stories

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I do not often get the opportunity to pick up my son at school. This particular day I had been out of work with an illness. So even though I was sick, it was a welcomed relief to get out of the house for a few minutes on this unusually warm December day.

As I was waiting for the first graders to come out, I sat in my car and watched the third and fourth graders at play. The children were in various play groups and I focused in on a make-shift game of soccer with some older boys.

I noticed one of the older boys that stood out. You know the guy that is taller than the rest and looks a little awkward towering the younger boys. I recognized Pete immediately. He is the one usually in polyester pants when everyone else is in jeans. He wears glasses and more so than not is peering over the bridge of them because they have slid down his nose.

He was running along side the ball when a smaller kid scooped it away with his foot. Pete tried to catch up, but failed. It was not long though before the ball came bounding back toward him. He instinctively lowered his head to bounce the ball back into play with his noggin. The kids laughed.

I could realize Pete was tiring some, but not fatigued. It was about this time last year, around the holidays, when he missed several days of school. He had to have knee surgery at a local hospital. It was a good indication that his knee was healing well as he ran trying to keep up.

Pete was always one to hang in the background. Usually making sure everyone else got involved before volunteering. He has, however interfered a few times in some rough housing. Sometimes the boys wondered if he was really one of them or just some tall guy never in class, always in the principal’s office. He spent a majority of the day, not all, but most of the time in there. The door was never really closed, so it was easy to see what was going on. Sometimes when he was alone in the office waiting, he would even get behind the desk.

Anyway, as I watched Pete and the other boys rambling around the playground after the ball, I wondered how many other elementary school principals are this involved with their school children. You see Pete is Pete Carter, the principal at Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning. Oh by the way, it was the desire to be back on the playground that helped his recovery time following a total knee replacement last December.

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