Page 11 - Demo

51Kendallville Mental SchoolWe startled each other as we walked out of adjacent duplex apartment buildings.%u201cAre you%u2026Bower?%u201d she asked tentatively, across the small lawn.%u201cYes, are you%u2026Lynn?%u201d I answered, just as hesitantly.We%u2019d never met, but for some reason we each knew we were headed to the same meeting. She remembered my last name from the Assistant School Superintendent%u2019s letter. I recalled her first name from my version of the same letter. I may not have been able to pronounce her last name %u2014 Ruprecht %u2014 even if I%u2019d remembered it. When I said I thought her duplex was empty, she said she%u2019d moved in late last night. As we walked toward the curb, I offered to drive. My sporty red MG caught her eye. She caught mine.Our meeting at the Kendallville Middle School with Mr. Earley, the principal, and Mr. Hamilton, the assistant superintendent, was brief. There was the obligatory shaking of hands and the ceremonial receiving of keys. As we were shown our classrooms (which we%u2019d already seen during our respective interviews), we were told it would be entirely our responsibility to set up a curriculum for all our classes. We would have all the 8th-grade boys for the entire school year. In addition, half of the 7th-grade boys would be with us for one semester, then the other half the following semester. Plus, we would see every sixth grader %u2014 both boys and girls %u2014 with rotations every few weeks to fit them all in. All of the 6th graders also rotated through the Home Economics Department. The girls liked our classes far more than the boys liked Home-Ec.