General Layout – High School Route (cont.)

In the afternoon, I drive to the high school and pick-up around 30 students. I arrive about 1:23pm and we leave the high school around 1:42pm. The students get out of school at 1:32pm, so that means we have about 8-10 minutes of hanging out on the bus until we leave. This is some of my favorite time. The students are much more alive and awake. These are the times I get to talk to students more. Some days not much is said between me and the students. Other days we get into some interesting, but short conversations. Of course, this is also the time when I have to run heard on these folks, e.g. can’t get off the bus once you get on, don’t lower the windows too low, watch the language, etc.

Last year, this was the toughest part of my day. A student had created a supportive critical mass with the main goal of harassing the bus driver. That student has moved on, and this year I look forward to this time of hanging out.

I take the students home to two different unloading stops. On the way, conversation in the back of the bus is usually pretty lively, and usually involves macho talk among guys, lots of teasing, and numerous conversations that involves sexual content. Easily R-rated conversations. I can’t hear much of it from the front, but I do catch bits and pieces when people get excited. That’s the back of the bus, the middle of the bus is dominated by Latino students having quieter conversations mainly in Spanish, and the front of the bus are usually the quieter students who ride along deep in thought. I often wonder what they’re thinking. I often wonder if they’re thinking they would like to be in the back of the bus laughing and carrying on. Who knows?

The trip from the high school to the bus stops takes about 20 minutes.

Oh, I do have a third stop on the run. After I’ve dropped off all the other students, John is still on the bus. John is a student who is in a program for at-risk teens. He has advanced to the place where he capable of successfully attending Newberg High School. So my last stop is dropping off John, so he can join his program. We have a two minute conversation, but everyday I ask him how his day has gone, he says, “Good,” and I ask him what was so good about it. Then he tells me something about his day. A lot can get said in two minutes.