It almost caught me off guard to have to meet with Katrina’s councilor to register her for HIGH SCHOOL. It sounds worse than it is though, I mean really, ninth grade is still Junior High in many areas, she’s still only half way through 8th grade, and she has a late birthday so she’s only 13 ½ . Phew! I thought she was going to fly the coop already! Maybe I’m just trying to reassure myself. I was quite a while waiting in the councilor’s office since the appointments were running behind schedule due to technical difficulties. I visited with another mother who didn’t know which class her son was in and she said it would embarrass him immensely if she were to go looking for him. When he came in the room I thought to myself, “HE’S embarrassed of YOU?” I thought that because if I’ve learned anything from being a mother it’s that those awkward years we all refer to as the teen years aren’t called with the aim of being awkward for the teenager…they’re awkward for us parents!
I planned on getting through the appointment quickly since I didn’t have any concerns and I didn’t want to keep others waiting, but the woman councilor was very thorough in going over anything and everything. Furthermore, since I found that most information was new to me I let her take it away. In addition to feeling enlightened, I felt proud. She gave test results for the end of the year testing that goes on. The students never see the results of those tests. Katrina is in the top 10% of her class. Because of her grades she qualifies to take AP classes including History and Biology. Hopefully this will allow her to go the colleges of her choice in the future and possibly get a scholarship. I left in high spirits that Katrina takes control and responsibility over her education, because if she were waiting for me to get her motivated, she’d still be waiting. She’s a good
girl.
