Spray Jobs and Swine Flu

Wow.   We all arrived at school today to find hot pink spray paint adorning many buildings on campus. The graffiti artists targeted many 7th/8th grade teachers in their ranting, excluding yours truly and other new teachers this year, leading us to believe it's an alumni.   Mrs. Principal has cancelled ALL middle school activities (end-of-year dance, 8th grade trip to Great America, graduation ceremony, etc.) until we find out who did it. Stockton PD are investigating. She told each middle school class this morning, and not a peep was heard. I have a feeling, though, that by the time they come to me at 12:00, I'll be hearing about how unfair it is.   Well, my darlings, I have news for you: sometimes life is unfair.   Innocent people get screwed over every day. They either sit there and cry, and never recover, or they pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get on with it. I'm not saying its easy to keep going, but really, what other options are there?   It was bad enough seeing my colleagues' names painted on the walls after big F-words and such, but worse was seeing an 8th grade girl's name followed by "is a bitch" painted on the floor of the main hallway at the front of the school. Targeting a young girl like that is just disgusting.   Unfortunately, we have no surveillance at our school, so we have to count on tips from the kids. Undoubtedly, there are kids who know. This neighborhood is close-knit and kids will hear gossip. We figure it was done by someone who attended our school last year.   In other fabulous news, there is a possible case of swine flu at a school in Sacramento. A kid who recently visisted Mexico came back, got sick, and other kids got sick, as well. Samples have been sent to the Center for Disease Control, so no word yet. Here's the thing: my school is at least 90% Mexican. What are the chances that someone has recently visited Mexico, or had family from Mexico visit? And, apparently, there has been some kind of flu bug going around. One colleague had it last week (and has recovered).   I don't want to panic, but you can bet I'm going to be washing my hands frequently and making a BIG deal out of mouth-covering and germ-spreading.   I think I'll avoid using Puppet Friends for a while, too. Can viruses live in cloth?   Mrs. Principal told me to keep my eyes and ears open, and to let her know if I hear of kids who have recently visited Mexico (not likely, as they tend to go at Christmas) or had family visit. Also, to watch out for kids who may be showing flu symptoms.   Just another Manic Monday. And my jeans stink like grease.