first part of my journey in the new school

The Principal apologized for not having any where to place me and offered the staff room as my work room.

I did not realize at that moment that the staff room would become one of my little homes. Frank and I would end up having lunch at the far left table while R, C and A would sit at the table next to us.

I would sit here every morning and eat my breakfast before or after I cleared out the dishwasher. Sometimes I got a special treat and could eat breakfast with A. I would even use the cupboards to store my jacket and the fridge for my lunches.

One day A saw me on a tiny sofa typing away on my laptop and suggested I move into one of the workrooms.

I was very amused by the workroom number and the pictures on the glass, but had no idea this door would lead into an entirely different universe. It was like a portal to another time and place.















I flicked the switch and taken back from the unique decor. A suggested I take the desk with the Santa Claus and Jingle Bells, which I did and then added my own twist to it. muhahahaha.

I did not realize at the time that this little workroom would become my sanctuary and my tiny home away from home. The boys in the room told me that they use to hang christmas lights all across the ceiling and that they had several fond memories of the wild place back then. I will remember the workroom mainly because of these men and not the countless hours marking and planning.

I also discovered that there would be a little wrinkle during my stay at this new school. My grade nine teacher who had the unusual habit of knocking over our pens and pencils off our desk would be teaching across the hall from my workroom. His workroom was right next to his classroom, which meant we would have to see each other every day. The odd thing about my teacher was that after he knocked over your pens and pencils he ordered you to pick them up. You were not allowed to squat down, but rather stand erect and then bend over so that your bum was lifted towards the ceiling. He would then place his groin next to your bum and smile. As for the gym girls like myself, he would notice that we were sweaty from running around for 75 minuites and told us that we could always unbottun our blouses if we so wish. He also liked to come close to you and look over your shoulder when you work...so close that you could feel his breath upon your neck. He still sends shivers up my back and I shudder to think of him.
My classmates filed a complaint against him and he was transfered to another school. Since the original three girls in my grade nine class were in a joint complaint with another three girls in the grade eleven class, they had friends at the teacher's new school. It was soon discovered that he had sexually assualted those girls as well and later transfered to my current school. In this new school, he had a habit of inviting girls into our workroom where he would open a door on the left side of this photo and lock the door. I would look underneath the door, but only saw pitch black. I would look at the clock and five minuites would pass before the girl would leave the work room. She did not look dishelved or distraught and he simply locked the door. I confronted him indirectly about our past and told him not to do anything that would put me in an awkard situation. He agreed and we never really spoke to each other for when we did the tension would become so high that we would snap at each other. I did not want to file so many complaints so I spent this term masquerading as if nothing was wrong at all.


I would end up spending a large amount of time on that computer planning lessons and checking emails that I sent to myself with work that needed to be done.