Huntsville City Schools Gone to Hell?

You often see school classified as two things. Kids classify it as a prison that is full of learning and boredom while Hollywood classifies it as a fun place.
It's always sad to find a school system that is closer to the kid's dramatic vision.

Lately I've been hearing and seeing several terrible things about Huntsville City Schools. Now, most of these issues weren't present to me until I began to volunteer and offer an ear to everyone. In fact, despite being in the school system for fifteen years, I never realized just how bad it had gotten until recently. Unfortunately, I can't bring myself to believe that these issues just started occuring.

I'll start with a few experiences of my own from the very recent pass and then move on to others that I have confirmed to be true.

September 24th of this year, I was stuck after school. I had just gotten out of an after school club and my ride was extremely late. While I was wandering the building, I came across a friend. She was walking down the hall in front of me. Immediately I could tell that something was wrong. Usually she's pretty perky, but today she was shuffling her feet and her shoulders were drooped. I called out to her and asked if she was okay. When she turned around, the fact that something was terribly wrong was written all over her face. She had been crying and she was shaking just a little bit. She whispered when she told me as if she was afraid that someone would hear her.
She had stayed after school to help with a Creative Writing fundraiser. After the fundraiser, some boy asked if he could walk with her and she said yes. She told me that she was wary about keeping her distance because she didn't know him. She then went on to tell me that he took her phone and held it hostage as he tried to force himself upon her. Forcing himself upon her included ripping her blouse open, trying to undo her belt, and pushing his hand into her pants.
She kicked him several times and fled the scene.
Because of what had happened, she was scared to tell anyone. She asked me to wait to tell people and I informed her that I couldn't. She left too soon for me to do much else for her so I immediately went to the office and asked for security. Turns out that neither security or the principal was available. Since none of them were available, I went to a teacher that I trusted. He took action as soon as he could. Nobody was there so he called around. Within thirty minutes, he had the vice principal on the phone. I explained what had happened and he asked me to come to his office as soon as school started the next day.
I did as he asked. Because I didn't see it actually happen, I just wrote a statement, gave my number to them, and left.
However, I've kept updated through my friend. They contacted the police and her parents as well as an investigator. Then, they tried to pull the camera footage. They were able to get the downstairs footage where he was acting shifty, but apparently they can't get the upstairs footage where it actually happened.
I don't know how they can't get the footage, but apparently they can't.
The punch came later when I called another friend and learned that the school board was telling a news reporter that she was lying. Apparently her rape was all consensual. Tears like that just don't come from consensual playtime in the hall. My theory is that they're trying to say that so that they don't look like they have an unsafe school. Kids messing around in the hall isn't a big deal, a girl being raped in the hall is.
I don't know what's going to happen with this situation, but I'm worried that she may drop it. Also, the school refuses to provide her with protection from several other students that want to hurt her since they were friends and family of the boy. She has been getting threats, but the school has ignored them.

Last year at the same school, we had an issue where a boy was jumped in the bathroom. They recorded it with a phone that caught several students faces, then posted it on Youtube. I don't know all the details of this case so I can't claim too much corruption on the school board simply because I don't know. I do know that the boy died later that night and the video of him getting beaten was posted on Youtube and the news. I also know that there are kids who participated in that event still here.

Yeah.... I feel super safe in my schools.

Moving on to other stories that I know of, but haven't been a part of.

I know a girl at another school here in town that was bullied by her JROTC teacher for making a pro-gay comment. She was talking to a friend about how she wanted to move to San Francisco and the teacher butted in, asking her if she realized that there was a high gay population there. She told him yes, that's why she wanted to move there and he began to preach to them. Her and another student asked him to stop several times but he used his position of authority to continue to the point that it sent her and another student fleeing from the class room in tears. When the parents followed up with the school, they did nothing. The mom wasn't asking for the teacher to be fired, she stated that she simply wanted all of the correct forms to be filled out and they weren't. When they continued insisting that all of the forms be filled out, the school sent back a letter telling them that it was over and that was it. They have now filed with the Board Of Education of Alabama.
The student continues to receive hate letters online about the situation.

Another such story of the lack of action on the schools part is from another school in Huntsville.
A student was jumped by three other girls in the hallway and had her bra and shirt stripped from her. She was then forced to walk down the hall topless. Despite being treated by the hospital for bruised ribs and the school having the video footage, they took two weeks to transfer her to another school. Not only did they refuse to transfer her, they have been claiming that there was a mix up in information and that they don't have proof that she was stripped. They have the video footage, but no proof...?
When they finally agreed to transfer her, they transfered her to a school way out of her range. She had put in for a particular school that she could get to every day and they refused her request.
I'm not sure what all is going on with this situation, but I've heard that only one out of the three attackers was arrested.

Another thing that caught my attention, but isn't about the schools becoming a dangerous place is the Star Testing.
Our super intendent has been bragging about how test scores have shot up since he's been in office..  That's fantastic! Wait...The tests have to be taken once a month? It's the same test to?? I couldn't possibly fathom why the scores are going up!?

Unto Death Do Us Part & Spiritual Guides

This post is one that I've been needing to write since Monday, but I've been putting it off. I was going to use this as a way to ignore everyone when I finally returned back so school. A safe haven in my writing, but I'm going to go ahead and get it all out now.

Mondays are usually bad, but mine was something to rival hell.
I was actually excited to go to school because I have an after school club called Anime Brigade and I was going to teach it that day. It's something that I could do any day that I want, but it doesn't matter. I enjoy it enough that it's always a pleasant surprise.

Before Anime Brigade, I had Creative Writing though. I love my Creative Writing class. It's always been a safe spot that I can go to and unwind in, but Monday is wasn't. We had to talk to some people and intervene with them and the things that were going on in their class. It wasn't a big deal and we didn't really have a problem, but it left me off centered.
Everything went fine until after school. I went to Brigade, taught my lesson which went over really well and was only fifteen minutes long, and then check my phone. I had a text. "Come outside. I have the baby."
My friend dropped off the little girl that I consider my own at the school. She told me that she would be back to get her around four and for me to just watch her. She didn't come back. So as much as I love my little girl, I lugged her around until I got in touch with mom at five to come get us. Usually I walk home but she's too small to make it all the way back.
While we were at school, I came across one of my friends that looked like she had been crying. Of course, I asked her what was wrong and she told me. Some guy had tried to force himself onto her in the hallway. He almost raped her and she had barely escaped. He ripped her shirt and all of that.
She begged me not to tell and I agreed, but as much as I value trust, as soon as she left, I told a teacher. I did it because her safety was more important to me that her trusting me in the future. She has mentioned kneeing him several times to escape and that worried me. What if he attacked her after school one day because he was mad? I doubt that he had just forgotten. What if he thought that he could get away with more?
We weren't able to get in touch with anyone but the vice principal and he told me to come by his office in the morning.
With that, I got in touch with mom and we left.
I stopped by the house and then prepared to go to my LGBTQ group that I go to every Monday. I only had thirty minutes to get there and of course mom was taking her time. She also wanted to get the baby ice cream and get gas before we got there so I was about twenty minutes late.
As soon as I got there, my friend William whirled me away and started talking about this girl that he was arguing with and all the stuff going on with them. Of course I got drawn into the middle of it and by the end of the night, he had left the group in a rage and promised never to come back. I followed him because it was dark out and I didn't want him out alone in that part of town.
There is still some tension and honestly, I just don't feel like talking about all of it because I like both of them and I don't want to take sides. If I have a side, I don't want to realize it.
The worst part of the day for me was later though. Around 9:30, I was laying on the couch with the baby on my chest and talking on the phone. Dad checked Bonnie, out dog of eighteen years, and she was gone.
Of course we all broke down crying because we loved her and we've had her for so long.
It felt so weird because I wanted to just go in my room, get on the computer, and call my boyfriend like nothing happened, but that felt wrong. It felt wrong to want to act like it was normal when I knew that it wasn't.
I wanted to, but it felt too wrong.
On top of that, I was done crying by Tuesday. I'm still sad and I still look for her, but I can't cry anymore. I can, but I just can't.
It really hurts to hear mom just keep talking about her though. I feel so terrible for feeling like I want to ignore that it happened.
I couldn't fully ignore it though. I wanted closure. So, yesterday I got online and was trying to find some proof for life after death.
It came around to the thought of summoning a spirit to prove it.
Now, this thought has been there for awhile, but Bonnie was a catalyst. I've always been interested in such things, but I'm even more interested now.
I looked at some stuff about spirit guides and I keep getting a flickering image of someone in my head. I can't grasp it, but it doesn't change and it doesn't go away like most images. It's really detailed to.
After all that, some mormons that come by often blessed our house.
It still didn't prevent the weird experience that happened later.
I was on my way to sleep and I saw something. It's hard to explain the angle of my room without something to show you, but it was like someone was standing in the hallway at an angle that I couldn't see. They would bounce in and out of the light several times and I would see the shadow move on my bookcase ans wall. The shadow was about the height of a person, but I never heard any footsteps and nobody in the house was up. I confirmed that this morning. Also, around this time, my mom's dog started whining really loudly from her room like he was scared.
I don't know what happened.

Parents.... Why Bother?

A loud thump resounds around the house. It’s loud enough to tempt me to turn down my music, but I resist the urge. I learned years ago that it’s best to ignore it and let the storm blow over. It will like always and the thump was probably just something being thrown.

I sigh, allowing the melancholic chords of Apocalyptica to calm my shattered nerves. This really isn’t that unusual, but with the chain of disasters in my life, it’s more bothersome than usual. My reverie is shattered when my mom whirls into my room, throwing my door open. Always one for dramatics, she’s bringing the fight to me. It wouldn’t matter if the door was locked, she would just bang on it and start screaming. Dad follows her. His voice can easily be heard over the piercing scream of cellos. “All you want is the money!” He shouts.

He’s not exactly lying, but I wouldn’t dare mention that. It would just stir it more. Mom yells something back unintelligible and they stand there, their mouths gaping like dead fishes. They’re both seeking something to say, but people of their caliber aren’t great at expressing themselves through words. Instead, mom huffs and lurks from the room.

Sadly, this reprieve from the noise doesn’t last long. The yelling begins again, but this time, they’re putting on their show for the neighbors. It really is a shock that the cops haven’t been called yet. Mom is more than happy to announce to the world that dad’s been drinking. At least the drinking is easier to handle than when he did pills though. I can’t help but shake my head as I remember all the days I missed school because of his habit. The days when mom left me here to baby sit him and no way to school in the morning, the days cleaning up the remnants of the night, and the days in the hospital. Yes. This is much better if not still aggravating.

Once again, my door is thrown open. “Anna!” My mom screams, her voice carrying over the symphony coming from my computer. “He’s lost it! He’s got the keys and he’s stealing the van.” She sounds panicked, but I don’t even turn to acknowledge her. Had it been five years ago, I would have been afraid due to my childlike innocence, but I’m older now and I’ve dealt with this my entire life. He may have the keys, but he won’t do anything. If I turn and say something, I’ll just be drawn further into the fight and used as ammo, making it last longer.

“Give me my money!” Dad grumbles loudly from the other room. Of course mom ignores him, spouting off stuff about calling her parents. Why do all the female ‘victims’ always cry about calling their parents?

Dad throws the keys at her and storms out. In between pauses in my music, I can hear mom crying and saying “I hate him” over and over.

It doesn’t matter to me though. She’ll just go back to him and they’re both in the wrong. She loves being with someone that she can fight with. 

GSA & Intolerance

I had my first GSA meeting yesterday. Because I know of several people in my school that are gay or bi, I didn't think that I would have any issues with my GSA. In fact, I had high expectations. Those expectations weren't met.
We put a sign up on Monday. I had meant to put up more, but I didn't have time so I left the signs and poster boards with a friend of mine to take home and make more.
On the Sunday prior, I called the principal and wrote down all the guidelines to putting up signs. I was very careful to follow the guidelines because we had trouble with the principal before. He wouldn't explain to me how to make the GSA and ran me around. I started two weeks after other clubs because I was still bugging him for confirmation.
We went to hang up the rest of the signs on Thursday. The sign that we had hung up Monday was already taken down and missing. We hung up four more signs, making sure to get them in convenient areas that students would see them.
When I got to fifth period, I was called out by my sponsor so she could yell at me for putting the signs up in places that I shouldn't have. Well, like I said, we had followed the rules. Our signs got taken down anyway. The other clubs didn't have this problem and I noticed that very few of them had followed the rules. So, why were we getting yelled at? I've been carrying around what was saved of the signs so that I can put them up later this afternoon. Because I have a sign for Gay Straight Alliance, I've gotten a lot of mocking questions and rude comments. I've never had that problem before.
One of our signs had even been drawn on! It said, "Go to church!"
We erased that, of course. I'm sure whoever did that thought that they were really funny.

Mormons & Alabama At It's Finest

I realized that I do meet the southern stereotype in some things. I hate it, I do, but it's true. (Hehe, see what I did there?) When I say that I meet the stereotype, I mean the southern belle one. I wouldn't be here if I met the redneck stereotype because I would have killed myself by now.
I'm a southern belle in the fact  that I say ya'll, all ya'll, and hun all the time. I love sweet tea and manners are bred into me.
When I meet anyone older than me, I say ma'am & sir. When they tell me not to call them that, I refer to them as mr. Bob or miss Lora. (Random names)
I also have a southern accent when I get mad.
Oh my gosh, it's a kitten! I'm sorry, I know that was so ADHD but someone showed me this site called writtenkitten.net and for every certain amount of words that you type, you get a picture of a kitten. It's so cute!
Anyway...
So, about the Mormons and Alabama's finer points..
The last few days, I keep having Mormons come to my door daily. Usually they come once a week for a few months, then they go away for a few months.
Having the southern belle hospitality that my mom and I do, we can't just slam the door in their face as much as we would like to. We sit outside with them, allow them to talk, ask questions, and then offer them a drink. Or, in my mom's case, make them dinner. -.-
If they start following us around everywhere like hobos, I'm not going to be happy. I'm not against religion, but I don't care for it either.
Well, onto Alabama's finer points....I'm going to talk about our amazingly educational school system!
If you didn't snort at that description for Alabama, I hate to tell you, but you may be a retard.
I'm in a senior class right now...Seniors in highschool.
We just had to go around the room in reading and one of the kids couldn't read...At all. Now I know ya'll may be like, well Anna, what you're going to say is cruel, but it's not. If a kid can't read...You don't pass that kid. You hold him back and teach him how to read.
 Yeah, I'm cruel. No, you're cruel! You want a person to go out into this hard world without being able to read? That's cruel. People like that get eaten alive. The fact that our school hasn't caught it yet makes me sick.

School & the Passionate Hatred I Harbor For It

Welp, I'm in a crap mood...No, a crap mood is an understatement. I hate everyone and everything right now, especially school.
Ugh...So, let me explain my mood. I have sleep apnea, which means that I have to be on a machine when I go to sleep or I stop breathing and just don't get any sleep.
My mask broke due to pesky dogs and I don't have the money to replace it. So, because it's broken, I pretty much haven't slept in six days. I've slept through those entire six days, missing three days of school, because I couldn't function, but it didn't matter. Without my c-pap to help me sleep, I'm miserable.
Despite all that, I decided to return to school.
Let's keep in mind that I already have a short temper for...Well, everything.
Then add on to that all the make-up work I'm going to have, the new school with new lap tops that we have to use which was already annoying, the fact that EVERYTHING is blocked on these laptops, and the masses of stupid people... I'm not in a good mood.
They even blocked my music...Fuck.
Luckily I was able to find a way on to Youtube...Until they block it again that is.
I'm not looking forward to next period either...It's a two period class and I already know that everyone is going to make me explain while I've been gone and my condition..
Joy...I promise I'm not usually this hateful.... Usually.

This. Is. LIFE!!!

Hehe, see what I did there? A "this is Sparta" joke.... No...? Okay, well, moving on..
Could you please help the group that I volunteer with in a contest? Just go to this page, click vote, and allow the application on your Facebook.
If you want to be super, mega, amazingly awesome, then you can share it and if someone clicks the link, you get an extra vote that you can use for us.
Just don't vote for anyone else? ;)
Here is the voting link
So, yesterday I was walking home from school and a woman called out to me. I didn't really know her but I had talked to her several times on my trek home. She has a full blooded Shitzu puppy that she wanted to get rid. She asked me if I wanted it and I told her no, I mean, I already have three dogs and a cat as it is. I did agree to try and find her a home though....
I found her one...Five minutes later.
I took a picture of her and asked my mom if she knew anyone that might be interested in her.
Lo and behold... Mom was.
I now have 4 dogs and a cat, with the possibility of getting a gecko. I love animals, but it's a bit too much for our small home.
I'mma see if I can convince her to let me give the dog to a family friend as a present. She would love the puppy to death.
After that, I get a phone call telling me to come outside because my friend is almost at my house and we're going to go chill. She does this all the time, she doesn't understand the concept of planning something out.
I don't mind too much though. I got dressed and went outside for us to go chill. It was her and her dude at first, but when I told one of my friends he asked if he could come meet us down there and chill so we said sure.
I walked over to meet him and use him as an excuse to get away from them because they were basically doing the nasty.
When I brought him back, I have to admit that it was funny as hell. Him and my friend have different political views, religious views, and different views on everything else from going to another planet to gangsters.
It didn't take long for them to not get along. It got even funnier though. He stole her date. Yep.
Like, him and her date walked off and started talking about cars. She had been totally ditched.
I guess I could say that her date was helping steal mine, but he wasn't my date, just a friend and I didn't really care either way.
It was certainly amusing to me.

My Entire Perspective of Reality Has Shifted

These last few days have been really educational for me.
Oh, by the way, if you can't handle sensitive content, right now would be the perfect time to tell you to go fuck off. \O/ Byeee!

For the people who are man enough, woman enough, ecteria enough to stay, congratulations.
So it has been educational for me in the way of learning about gender. Yesterday, I talked to a transgendered person about the transgendered community and what falls into that community. It really is fascinating. Before then, I had though that a transvetite was a person that may have male genitals, but classifies themselves as a female.
Nope!
Under the transgendered umbrella, there is transexual, cross dressers, and drag queens/kings. A transvetite is just a cross dresser. Transexual is a person that may have male or female genitals, but leads the opposite genders lifestyle.
I also learned that there are more genders than I knew before.
There's male, female, transexual, hermaphrodite, genderqueer, and genderfluid.
As you probably know, a hermaphrodite is a person that can have a penis, but a female reproductive system or both organs.
Before, I didn't know about genderqueer or genderfluid.
Genderfluid is a person that may have one or the other genital, but relates as a male one day and a female the other day. They can identify as either at any given moment.
Genderqueer is a person that doesn't relate to any known gender.

If I missed any, feel more than welcomed to let me know. I love learning about such things.