Chapter Thirty-One
Carina
Carina had been close to tears twice this morning for no logical reason. The first occasion was when her students had filtered into her classroom and one of them told her that she smelled good. The little boy had looked up at her with those stunning blue eyes of his and a crooked smile and added that she reminded him of his mom. For whatever reason, his words had brought tears to her eyes. She had read online that the morning after pill could temporarily throw a woman’s hormones out of whack. Maybe that was why she was an emotional wreck.
Or maybe it was because that beautiful boy’s eyes were the same shade as Josh’s.
The second time she almost lost it was when the vice principal came to her classroom for his weekly visit. Vice principal and former Marine, Darron Atkins, was the ideal school leader. He truly cared about children and the faculty. He knew every child by name, which employee had experienced a loss recently, and if a faculty member was going to be a grandparent. He would have made a wonderful principal. Carina learned from a colleague that Mr. Atkins had been offered the job over Eric, but had graciously turned it down. The fifty-eight-year-old father of five didn’t seem to care about being in the spotlight. He appeared content to be the school’s disciplinarian, provide staff development, and observe and evaluate teachers.
Carina was in the middle of securing a Band-aid on a nonexistent cut on Kylie’s finger when Mr. Atkins strolled in and greeted the class. The students were lined up at the back door and itching to go outside to the recess yard. Carina gave Kylie’s long, blonde braid a gentle tug and the little girl flashed her a gap-toothed grin.
“Okay, Noah, lead us out.” Carina intentionally made him line leader whenever she could. If he didn’t have a job to do, the child would have been talking to his neighbor or walking around the room. With great pride, Noah led his classmates outside to let off some steam under the supervision of two extremely underpaid recess aides.
Carina closed the door behind the last student and turned to face the kind man she highly respected. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Atkins. What can I do for you?” Mr. Atkins blushed and straightened his tie. Carina smiled at the sight. The man had no qualms over wearing a three-piece suit with a blue tie adorned with school buses.
But as she stared at Mr. Atkins she was reminded of her reality, of the man who walked these hallways, the man who threatened to destroy her reputation and career if she didn’t comply. Carina wanted to believe that she wouldn’t be in this predicament if only Mr. Atkins had accepted the principal position, keeping Eric several school districts away from her precious school. But she knew that was wishful thinking. Eric would have gotten to her somehow. It was just a matter of time.
“Well, I’m planning a teacher training session on classroom management a few weeks from now. I was hoping you could help me out?”
“Um, sure. But, I’m a little confused. I’m only going into my fifth year. Wouldn’t you want someone with a little more experience, a…um…a veteran teacher to help you with this particular topic?”
Mr. Atkins chuckled. “Carina, did you think this year’s class roster was a coincidence? I mean, look at the students in your classroom. Six of your little cherubs were frequent flyers in my office last year. And it is my belief those six whippersnappers had something to do with Ms. Albertson’s early retirement.”
Carina knew exactly which cherubs Mr. Atkins were referring to. They had run the kindergarten teacher ragged last year. But instead of accepting help or changing her approach when working with students who clearly had behavioral needs, Ms. Albertson had decided to throw in the towel and begin her retirement in sunny Florida, far away from students she had said on more than one occasion in the teacher’s lounge had driven her to drink.
“Mr. Atkins, I would be happy to help, but I…”
“Carina, it makes no difference to me if you’ve been in this profession for four years or twenty-five. As you are aware, I make a point to visit each classroom at least once a week. That’s how I gauge student engagement and of course, classroom management. Your classroom is like a well-oiled machine. The students are respectful and make educational gains. I can only assume you squash any misbehavior within your classroom because in the four years that you’ve been here, I have yet to find one of your students in my office for disciplinary reasons.”
Carina was overwhelmed and flattered that Mr. Atkins, a man who had been in education longer than she had been alive, was praising her for what she believed was just best practice. As for the six ornery boys, she had preemptively prepared for their arrival once she learned they were going to be in her classroom. Her little cherubs were responding well to the behavioral interventions she had implemented and though it was early in the school year, she had yet to find a reason to refer any of them to the vice principal’s office. “Well then, sure. I would be honored to help in any way.”
Mr. Atkins smiled. “Wonderful! Can we meet next week? I’ll be preparing the PowerPoint presentation but I will need your input. Maybe discuss what you have found works in your classroom and what doesn’t?”
As she looked into Mr. Atkins’ kind eyes, eyes that belonged to a man everyone respected, a man who everyone trusted, she knew what had to be done. It took less than a second for Carina to determine an ideal date, time, and place for their meeting.