Cheaters Anonymous

The four kids are back in school, Keith is back at work and that leaves me with with the Gruesome Threesome! It's hard to believe that we've been in school for a full four weeks, but the we are somewhat getting used to our new schedule. It was hard to get up with the alarm clock this morning, though, after a long weekend.

Keri Lynn is going back to school with an interesting situation at hand.

Algebra 2 is the last of four blocks and also one of her toughest classes. She does her homework and studies diligently and has managed to keep an A average so far. However, on Friday, the class had a sub. Remember the subs of yesteryear? They're the same as today. Exactly the same. Maybe even a little worse.

A group of kids in the class talked the sub into letting them take their quiz in pairs . . . and the sub agreed! Then, while the sub sat at her desk, the kids went around the class exchanging answers for their quiz. Since they didn't want to be caught cheating, they also arranged for certain of them to get various questions wrong.

As they did this, one of the kids approached Keri Lynn, "You're not going to tell the teacher about this, are you?"

Keri Lynn said, "I won't tell unless I'm asked."

The kid was astonished, "You mean, if you're asked, you'll actually tell?!"

"Yes."

Then, another kid wanted to look on to HER paper, but she refused, saying it was cheating and she would just do her own work.

Another student piped up, "Well, I'm not cheating, but I'm letting people look at my paper."
So Keri Lynn explained that that was cheating, too.

(Keep in mind that the sub is in the room the ENTIRE time, sitting at her desk. Good grief!)
There was a grand discussion about the whole process of sharing answers, but Keri Lynn stood firm, completed her quiz and came home with her interesting and alarming story.

I think what alarmed us so much was that only one student stood up to wrong. Just one. I'm proud of Keri Lynn, but I'd expect that from her. We talked at great length about it and about what to do today when she returns to class. She's certain that all of the kids are going to hate her now and think of her as a "goody two-shoes." However, I told her that more than likely there will be a small percentage of the kids that will look up to her for being true to her faith.

It's all about content of character.

Then, this weekend, Kristofer went on an outing with the high school afternoon bus driver and her family and two other families. She has been so impressed with the kids and their behavior, and she was seriously upset with me for sending them to public school. We talked on the phone and she told me how she could not believe that I'd give up with only a few years to go . . . and then she looked at her own kids in elementary school. A few weeks ago, she was picking up her fifth grader from school and found the teacher yelling at him in the hallway, so she pulled them from school and is now homeschooling her kids! She's a character, if you can't tell from this little story, and -- I'm certain -- a person God put in the kids' lives for such a time as this.

As usual, there is a ton of stuff going on with life. You'd think I'd get used to the fact that life just happens that way. There's good and bad along the way and we are each faced with whether or not we'll trust God for the day's burdens. I choose "YES!"