This past Friday (the 17th), the high school I attended had an all-class reunion at their Homecoming footbal game - it was to celebrate that this year's Senior class will be their 50th graduating class.  I was looking forward to my dh and I going b/c I knew that I would see upper and lower-classmen that you just don't see at your own class reunions...plus...as a former band member I knew that Homecoming would always offer one the year's best marching band performances! 

A couple of years ago the district tore down EVERY school building and rebuilt them, including my old high school.  The only original parts left of the school I attended are the gym and auditorium, so it would be exciting to see the new school.  My girlfriends from school (who I still see a couple times a year) and I took "our own" tour of parts of the new building (I even got to use the teacher's potty!  lol  Our class president is now the Principal and he unlocked it for me!  Mystery solved...it's nothing special!) and, indeed, it is a beautiful place.  (Eh-hmmm....the SCHOOL, NOT the potty! )  Computers in nearly every room, a STORE (WOW!), a college-type library, cool lunchroom, large band and choir rooms, etc.  We saw people that we hadn't seen in years and secretly wondered if we looked as old to them as do to us  and tried not to forget that our wonderful dh's were dutifully wandering behind us as we giggled like school girls and remembered when.  Fortunately, our dh's are friends so they could commiserate w/each other.  lol

Then, we went out to "watch the game."  There were so many people there that we had to crunch down in the wheelchair section of the grandstand.  We watched the game whenever people started cheering b/c we were taking to other class members as they walked by.  But what we were really there for was to see the band.  My little group of classmates that I was chumming with that night were all former band members and drillies...we had our priorities for the evening.  As 1/2-time approached, we watched as the band took their positions at the end of the field - my their uniforms were so cool! - not the military-style we had.  They were also a VERY SMALL band now, MAYBE 60 kids - enrollment has gone down so much that, according to our old principal who was there, they barely had 200 per class now; OUR class alone was 444 and our marching band had over 200 PLUS about 30 drillies!  Now they only had their little band and 4 or 5 flag corp (ick - I'm NOT a flag corp fan).

So, our anticipation was building...Homecoming would always be one of the best shows!  The band came out, the girl drummajor dutifully marched out and climbed her director's perch, qued up the instruments and ... what's this crud?  NEWS BLERBS?!?!  "The war in Iraq took on high casualties today/the Dow ended with a down-turn/President Bush says he doesn't know how long our troops will be in Iraq/unemployment has reached a new high..."  Then, the commentator started speaking in a modlin tone and saying things like "If we stick together we CAN over-come...we mustn't let life get us down...whatever is going on in the world you must get through it..."  THEN the band started their routine - first, they hardly marched and then what they did had no creativity to it at all; and the music - it was slow, almost concert-type music!!  OH MY!  IT WAS SO SAD!!!  All of my friends and I just looked at each other WAITING for the "fun part" to start - it didn't.  3 songs that were simply played to be playing something, it seemed to us.

I ask you, and I'm going to e-mail my old high school and ask them - WHY -WHY use a football game halftime show - and a band routine - to put such depressing thoughts into the minds of young, impressionable teens?!?!  Halftime shows are meant to entertain not spew p.c. doctine!  What we saw was NOT entertainig in the least.  It was utterly depressing.  When our band would perform we would do Chicago and Beatles music and we would have people on their feet cheering and dancing!!  WE WERE FUN!!  I saw nothing fun or entertaining about anything those kids did on Friday night.

My friends and I left after half-time and had our own little reunion at a local favorite pizza place that we all enjoyed  "back when."  Believe me, NONE of us were up-lifted or entertained by the half-time "show." 

It was sad and, once again, my dh and I were convinced that the last 16 years of homeschooling is one of the very best choices we're ever made in our lives!  That our children aren't missing ANYTHING and, in fact, are being rescued from the depressing p.c. environment!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><