Morning Duty

The most hilarious start to the day-As “acting principal” (me in Shann’s absence today) I walk out to the play ground to see how an extended impromptu morning duty went for the student teachers and our wonderful volunteer, Fran. As I walk out, the girls tell me, “everything went well except for one lost shoe.” Puzzlingly I look and them and am directed to the fact that there is a shoe on the roof of the school. One of the little girls had done a cartwheel and her shoe flew off mid-turn. Casually I walk back to the classroom to fetch a chair as I hear other teachers discussing all the random things that happen on morning duty because earlier another child had attempted to fly like Superman and flown off the merry-go-round. At this point, I off the cuff reply with, “like a shoe on the roof?”, and carry on with chair fetching and shoe retrieval, as they debate the merits of what was actually happening. I climb up onto the chair on the playground in front of all 81 students attempt to use a broom to get the shoe down. At which point I knock the shoe off the roof and get it stuck in the gutter. Do I stop there and give up until maintenance can bring a ladder, of course not, I am a single and resourceful young woman who needs no assistance from anyone and can problem solve on my own(insert your own note of sarcasm here). So, I step off the chair, give the worthless broom and my cell phone to the student standing next to me and begin to look around for the tallest, skinniest, not afraid of heights student I can think of and I spot Peter. I call peter over, check if he is afraid, pick him up and put him on my shoulders, climb back on the chair, and have him rescue the poor grade 1 student’s shoe from the gutter…priceless!