Alumni

Yesterday we had several alumni visit campus. They were the students I taught my first year at Horticulturalist High. Without exception, the ones who returned were doing well, getting good grades, had just completed their first semester of college... Several had nice things to say about how our honors program had prepared them for college. And it was just good to see them. I am always pleased to see the kids who've moved on.

Also yesterday, there was an article in the paper about a young man who shot a police deputy. At 16, he is going down on record as the youngest cop-killer in Sacramento. In interviews with his neighbors, I spotted another name from another first year. Pinky was in eighth grade the very first year I was teaching. She was a tough, athletic kid. Smart, but she got in trouble sometimes, too. The last I had heard, she was at my alma mater in one of their law enforcement academies. In other words, she was training to be a cop. But her picture and interview... she looked really rough, and mentioned that she and some of her friends had beaten up this "wannabe" last week in order to teach him a lesson. I suspect she's taken another path. And I'm really, truly sorry to hear it.