How was your child's first day?

[casey]

Things went great for my kids at Fry and Neuqua. Waubonsie? Well, not so much.

It started off with horrendous bus problems (no point going in to that as we all know about them) but it got worse. My daughter sat in several classes in which the teachers were asking simple get-to-know you questions/conversation starters. Several of them asked who transferred from WE/TG. My daughter was sitting near a small group and was embarrassed to say so because there were kids sitting there murmuring "F*CK Neuqua" and "we hate Neuqua" under their breath. Now gee, that's quite welcoming!

My kid is smart enough to not make trouble and kept her mouth shut but she was upset and embarrassed. She shouldn't have to be concerned or embarrassed that she's from Tall Grass. Can you even imagine the opposite? If a kid transferred to Waubonsie and they were from Georgetown and students sat in the back of the room saying "F*ck Waubonsie" "we hate Waubonsie". How would that go over?

Additionally, there's a number of kids wearing bracelets with "I hate Neuqua" on them. Nice, huh?

I know it's kids being kids and my daughter recognizes that. Yesterday was difficult and today will get better. She'll be fine but to say it was a tough day for her is an understatement! All the wonderful hoopla about Metea opening but what's gets lost in the shuffle are the other kids that moved high schools. We didn't move (who ever would move their kids in HS?) but my kid was moved. Yesterday was her first day too.

On a positive note, she's met a lot of wonderful girls through her sports team. They've been very welcoming and she loves the coaches. I know that will be a positive experience for her.

[Arch]

"How come Metea seems to be mostly just white kids?" was the question of the day...

[we4]

Our first day was good. My 7th grader had a schedule change half way through the day so that was a little crazy for her, but it was ok. She did say she misses Scullen but in the same sentence she said she made a few new friends. My 6th grader's first day of ms was better then my 7th grader. My 6th grader talked for hours about it so I think it went well. She also said she made two new friends. My 2nd grader's day was great cause many of her friends are in her class, but she was kind of bummed that she does not have snack since lunch is actually at lunch time. The jury is still out on my kindergartner. His first full day is today. He says he'll go to K but "no way I'm not going to 1st grade".

[doctorwho]

Aug 21, 2009 6:47:05 GMT -6 casey said:

Things went great for my kids at Fry and Neuqua. Waubonsie? Well, not so much.

It started off with horrendous bus problems (no point going in to that as we all know about them) but it got worse. My daughter sat in several classes in which the teachers were asking simple get-to-know you questions/conversation starters. Several of them asked who transferred from WE/TG. My daughter was sitting near a small group and was embarrassed to say so because there were kids sitting there murmuring "F*CK Neuqua" and "we hate Neuqua" under their breath. Now gee, that's quite welcoming!

My kid is smart enough to not make trouble and kept her mouth shut but she was upset and embarrassed. She shouldn't have to be concerned or embarrassed that she's from Tall Grass. Can you even imagine the opposite? If a kid transferred to Waubonsie and they were from Georgetown and students sat in the back of the room saying "F*ck Waubonsie" "we hate Waubonsie". How would that go over?

Additionally, there's a number of kids wearing bracelets with "I hate Neuqua" on them. Nice, huh?

I know it's kids being kids and my daughter recognizes that. Yesterday was difficult and today will get better. She'll be fine but to say it was a tough day for her is an understatement! All the wonderful hoopla about Metea opening but what's gets lost in the shuffle are the other kids that moved high schools. We didn't move (who ever would move their kids in HS?) but my kid was moved. Yesterday was her first day too.

On a positive note, she's met a lot of wonderful girls through her sports team. They've been very welcoming and she loves the coaches. I know that will be a positive experience for her.

Chaing high schools- moving in HS is one of the most troubling things because of what teens go through in those 4 years life wise. It's why people turn down promotions where you have to move - and do what they can to avoid this...because crap like you describe happens...

If I hear one more freakin' time from our admin on how resilient kids are and make out like they just adjust to this stuff immediately I am going to scream - it's bull.

and speaking of the other incidents- when the leaders play one area against another - and their minions decrribe people in the paper as rascists and the hoi poloi - what do you expect ? It's really sad what has happened here..

[momto4]

casey - that's horrible that some teachers decided to call out the new kids, and that some kids decided to act negatively toward students who came from another attendance area. I have never heard of such bracelets and I hope it was a fairly small group of kids, though any at all would feel like too many.

How was her day today?

[concerned2]

I am hearing from several parents the same kind of stories as caseys child experienced. Teachers asking where you live and the students bullying the new ones. I was hoping this would not happen and I find it very ironic that it is not ok for NV student to utter anything negative about WV, but WV students can wear bracelts that say they hate NV!! Really who are the racist snobs? And this must come from these kids parents. Very sad IMO.

[slp]

Other than the bus situation, the first two days as a freshman at WVHS was fine according to my son.

Then there was MY OPINION of tonight; the pig roast. Overall a great event; the athletic team members (golf, lacrosse, football, soccer, volleyball ) , their parents and family members were a pleasure to meet.

What troubled me were the group of kids (who are not on an athletic team) who had to spoil it for everyone else by getting into fights which brought the police.

I am new to this 'high school thing' so I ask...does this go on at all events at any school or is it a "Waubonsie thing". I know I heard that there was a fight at this same event last year.

Fill me in because I truely do not know. Perhaps a sports ID should be required to attend this event.

[doctorwho]

Aug 21, 2009 17:54:41 GMT -6 concerned2 said:

I am hearing from several parents the same kind of stories as caseys child experienced. Teachers asking where you live and the students bullying the new ones. I was hoping this would not happen and I find it very ironic that it is not ok for NV student to utter anything negative about WV, but WV students can wear bracelts that say they hate NV!! Really who are the racist snobs? And this must come from these kids parents. Very sad IMO.

It really is sad- but once again when you have 'leaders' who fuel this kind of crap this is the outgrowth.There was NONE of this when my oldest was @ WVHS and NVHS opened - they competed hard on the sports fields from day 1 for bragging rights- but that was it.

Of course it comes from the same parents that spout comments about elitists and rascists....this district has changed and not for the better the last few years
one just hopes it stays with a relatively small group of parents and kids as I believe the vast majority of WVHS students and parents have zero to do with this kind of nonsense

[warriordiva]

Aug 21, 2009 18:23:37 GMT -6 slp said:

Other than the bus situation, the first two days as a freshman at WVHS was fine according to my son.

Then there was MY OPINION of tonight; the pig roast. Overall a great event; the athletic team members (golf, lacrosse, football, soccer, volleyball ) , their parents and family members were a pleasure to meet.

What troubled me were the group of kids (who are not on an athletic team) who had to spoil it for everyone else by getting into fights which brought the police.

I am new to this 'high school thing' so I ask...does this go on at all events at any school or is it a "Waubonsie thing". I know I heard that there was a fight at this same event last year.

Fill me in because I truely do not know. Perhaps a sports ID should be required to attend this event.

I was at the pig roast both last year and all day today (worked a booth from 3:00 until 8:00). There were no fights at the pig roast last year. And not that I don't believe you, but where was the fight - I didn't see it at all. I saw an ambulance take away a volleyball player, and a policeman directing traffic at the end with his car parked and the lights on. If there was a fight it was a quiet one.

There was a fight at last year's Warriorfest. The kids were identified as not being from 204, but from a neighboring school district.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you, this event is not designed to be just for athletes. You shouldn't have to present a sports ID to attend. Are there fights at WV? Yes. Are there fights at other area high schools? Yes. Maybe you didn't mean it, but implying that this could only be a "Waubonsie" thing is exactly what is wrong with this district. An implication that nothing bad happens at Neuqua. We all know that not to be true. Fights are no more a "Waubonsie" thing than drugs are a "Neuqua" thing.

As far as comments in other threads about the kids "bullying" the Neuqua kids, not sure I believe that. Very few teachers at WV would allow that to occur in their classrooms. As far as a teacher trying to get the kids to introduce themselves, that would be a standard first day of school activity.

Look - this is not going to be an easy transistion for any student, especially the sophomores who attended NV last year. The school district has done them no favors. However, you must realize, whether you attend NV or WV that the 2 schools are bitter rivals and always have been. Hence the "Neuqua sucks" or "Nuck Feuqua" bracelets sported around the school. I would be very surprised if there are no such "hate WV" items floating around NV. Last year if the kids were caught wearing the bracelets, they were confiscated, not sure what is happening this year (it is only the 2nd day). I'm not justifying the kids behavior, but there may be ultra sensitivity on one side, and a deeply ingrained rivalry on the other that will be hard to turn off.

[casey]

Aug 21, 2009 23:02:16 GMT -6 warriordiva said:

As far as comments in other threads about the kids "bullying" the Neuqua kids, not sure I believe that. Very few teachers at WV would allow that to occur in their classrooms.

Warriordiva,
I agree with much of what you say but I take offense at your comment about "not sure I believe that". I assure you I am not making this up. I didn't call it bullying you did but I'm not sure what it is. If you'd like to PM me I can give you a few of my kid's classes and you can contact the teachers directly. It happened. My kid did not make a big deal about it - merely stated that kids were saying that kind of stuff "F*CK Neuqua" "we hate Neuqua" "go back to Neuqua" all day. Oh well. I can guess that it would happen backward at Waubonsie too. It's kids being kids but I will tell you this, it did NOT make my kid feel to welcome.


As far as last night goes at the pig roast, I'm not sure what really happened. But you might want to find out the story about why the young lady (striped shirt, black pants) was sitting with handcuffs in the back of the police car. Again, I'm not making this up - I saw it with my own eyes. I have to admit that I was a little surprised. I'm not saying this doesn't happen at NV. It could happen anywhere but last night IT DID HAPPEN at Waubonsie. Oh well.

We enjoyed the pig roast and I'd say overall it was a big success. Waubonsie will be a change for everyone but there are some that need to learn how to accept the change that the TG/WE parents/kids will bring to the school, too. Making fun of parents for what they're wearing, and making cracks about "look at that get-up!" (I heard both) are unjust, unwarranted, and unkind. You can choose not to believe them warriordiva, but I know what I heard.

[casey]

Aug 21, 2009 16:50:43 GMT -6 momto4 said:

casey - that's horrible that some teachers decided to call out the new kids, and that some kids decided to act negatively toward students who came from another attendance area. I have never heard of such bracelets and I hope it was a fairly small group of kids, though any at all would feel like too many.

How was her day today?

Thanks so much for checking, momto4. My daughter had a much better day. She knows it's a period of adjustment and it's kids being kids. She'll survive. In fact, some day, I'm sure she'll grow to love Waubonsie. It's different right now though, that's for sure.

[slp]

Aug 21, 2009 23:02:16 GMT -6 warriordiva said:

Aug 21, 2009 18:23:37 GMT -6 slp said:

Other than the bus situation, the first two days as a freshman at WVHS was fine according to my son.

Then there was MY OPINION of tonight; the pig roast. Overall a great event; the athletic team members (golf, lacrosse, football, soccer, volleyball ) , their parents and family members were a pleasure to meet.

What troubled me were the group of kids (who are not on an athletic team) who had to spoil it for everyone else by getting into fights which brought the police.

I am new to this 'high school thing' so I ask...does this go on at all events at any school or is it a "Waubonsie thing". I know I heard that there was a fight at this same event last year.

Fill me in because I truely do not know. Perhaps a sports ID should be required to attend this event.

I was at the pig roast both last year and all day today (worked a booth from 3:00 until 8:00). There were no fights at the pig roast last year. And not that I don't believe you, but where was the fight - I didn't see it at all. I saw an ambulance take away a volleyball player, and a policeman directing traffic at the end with his car parked and the lights on. If there was a fight it was a quiet one.

There was a fight at last year's Warriorfest. The kids were identified as not being from 204, but from a neighboring school district.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you, this event is not designed to be just for athletes. You shouldn't have to present a sports ID to attend. Are there fights at WV? Yes. Are there fights at other area high schools? Yes. Maybe you didn't mean it, but implying that this could only be a "Waubonsie" thing is exactly what is wrong with this district. An implication that nothing bad happens at Neuqua. We all know that not to be true. Fights are no more a "Waubonsie" thing than drugs are a "Neuqua" thing.

As far as comments in other threads about the kids "bullying" the Neuqua kids, not sure I believe that. Very few teachers at WV would allow that to occur in their classrooms. As far as a teacher trying to get the kids to introduce themselves, that would be a standard first day of school activity.

Look - this is not going to be an easy transistion for any student, especially the sophomores who attended NV last year. The school district has done them no favors. However, you must realize, whether you attend NV or WV that the 2 schools are bitter rivals and always have been. Hence the "Neuqua sucks" or "Nuck Feuqua" bracelets sported around the school. I would be very surprised if there are no such "hate WV" items floating around NV. Last year if the kids were caught wearing the bracelets, they were confiscated, not sure what is happening this year (it is only the 2nd day). I'm not justifying the kids behavior, but there may be ultra sensitivity on one side, and a deeply ingrained rivalry on the other that will be hard to turn off.

There were two fights Warriordiva and I saw them with my own eyes. The police had to break them up; one was between two guys , the other between two girls.

You probably did not see them because you were in a booth all night. good for you for volunteering but you obviously did not see the entire event.

I am new to this 'highschool thing' as my oldest is a freshman so if you READ my post I was ASKING if this is common at other schools or unique to Waubonsie. How dare you state that my comment is what is wrong with the district! I was simply asking for information and knowledge.

Maybe next time I will be in the booth and you can walk around and see what goes on.

[researching]

I had a great time at the pig roast! What a fun event!

After reading the above posts this is my take:

I personally did not witness any fights but I have no doubt they occurred. (ETA - I was at the pig roast from 4pm - 8:15pm) There was a HUGE cluster of students right at the beginning of the tents. They were typical high school students. Loud, goofy and messing around. A perfect recipe for a fight. If you doubt that think about your own household with your own children. They start out messing around and acting all goofy. The energy escalates and invariably someone gets hurt.

Of course this is not exclusive to one school or one neighborhood. I remember when my TG neighbor was arrested for fighting with another mother under the bleachers at NV a few years ago. And we are talking about grown women here!
These things happen. The WV boosters seemed to be out in force trying to control things and, with the huge number of people in attendance, I think they did a wonderful job!

As for the bullying...my child has not experienced any. We count ourselves lucky for that because pretty much every one of my child's friends experienced some level of disdain from returning WV students. When asked my child said "no one has said anything to me because it's not like I am offering up that I transferred from NV". I hope the bullying that has occurred is only what I term as "razzing". Not serious, just sarcastic and slightly rude. Hopefully that is the extent of it.

As for the bracelets...for some reason, that doesn't really bother me at all. My spouse said "Instead of getting offended, the new WV students should ask where they can get one. After all their all Warriors now right?". Neuqua and Waubonsie ARE rivals. That's why the Waubonsie / Neuqua football game has to be held at North Central College. I am willing to bet it was that rivalry that had those bracelets made, not serious malice.

This has been a long, arduous journey. There will be hypersensitivity on both sides. The SB/Admin ensured that by perpetuating stupid stereotypes for the last 3 years. It is up to us to rise above the actions of a corrupt system designed to divide us. Day one was difficult, day two was better. Each day will get better and better. By the time the Waubonsie / Neuqua football game rolls around, who knows? Maybe all Warriors (new ones included) will be wearing "Neuqua Sucks" bracelets but only in the spirit of FRIENDLY rivalry.

The AMAZING rainbow at last night's pig roast can be a symbol for a fresh start.

[slp]

Researching,
Awesome post and very true! Thank you.

I asked my son about the bracelets and he says he has one! (he said it proudly and that it is a football thing). So, he has one and he's never hated NVHS. My nephew goes to NVHS and he will most likely wear the bracelet to their house for family gatherings just to razz them! That and our WVHS wear!

I am (as we all are) concerned for my kids safety and just wanted to get a feel for what goes on at these high school events. I know I am a newbie and might have overreacted to seeing police etc.

Warriordiva, I will be volunteering alot for sporting events and boosters and I hope that someday we can meet and understand each other better.

The rainbow was truely AMAZING. I have never seen a completely FULL double rainbow like that. I have it on film .

[researching]

slp, I totally understand the way you feel with having your oldest being a freshman. That was me last year. The only advice I can give you is get used to being basically in a state of panic 24/7. ;D

High School is a scary time for parents. The kids get exposed to much that we, as parents, would like to avoid. You will find yourself discussing many uncomfortable topics. The worst is when you start to hear the stories about shocking behavior being perpetrated by children you have watched grow up. It may even be a friend's child (that's the worst!).

I am so happy that my child shares this type of information with me because it keeps the lines of communication open. However, some of the things I have learned pretty much burned my ears off and have done nothing to eleviate my constant state of panic!