Surprising, Yet Not Really

We found out tonight that the athletic director at Wawasee High School was put on administrative leave.  We weren't completely surprised as there were allegations against him over the years for inappropriate behavior with women of all ages including high school students.  In the past year it had become the talk on social media and recently there was a petition to have him removed.  Although we were not a fan of his due to the negative way he treated Doug while he was coaching soccer or the difficult time he gave Meg when she wanted to transfer to Bethany, none of us in the Heinisch home had any direct knowledge of his inappropriate behavior.  The fact that over forty young women came forward to file a complaint dating back to the time that Brett was in high school made us suspect that there probably was some truth in the stories circulating.

As Doug and I talked about the situation what kept coming to mind was the amount of scandal that has occurred over the last decade at Wawasee High School.  We easily compiled a list of ten other teachers, coaches or staff who had resigned or been removed due to immorality starting in Brett's sophomore year in high school.

    Band Director - Fired for an inappropriate relationship with a parent of a band student. 

    High School Principal - Fired for an inappropriate relationship with a guidance counselor

    High School Spanish Teacher - Fired when she was arrested for helping her fiance cover up an

            embezzlement scheme

    High School Art Teacher - Arrested and fired for having marijuana in his glove compartment on 

            school property (it was discovered by the auto trade students when he asked them to change 

            his oil)

    High School Assistant Athletic Director - Demoted for making a burner account to anonymously

            criticize coaches and staff of the Wawasee school system 

    High School Principal - Resigned over allegations of inappropriate relationship with a student

    High School Football Coach - Resigned due to discovery that he was aware of a website his players                 were using to share naked pictures of classmates and did nothing to stop it

    High School Tennis Coach - Resigned due to inappropriate contact with several players

    High School Athletic Event Supervisor - Asked not to return because of inappropriate contact with

               high school girls

    High School Math Teacher - Resigned due to asking high school girls to share nude pictures with him

It's a tragedy that students had to endure this type of behavior while trying to navigate the tough years of high school.  As I read through the statements on the petition of those who were Cal and Brett's age giving their reasoning for signing the petition, I noticed that several had asked for the resignation of those who did not act sooner on the allegations regarding the athletic director.  I don't know if that is the answer, but with the amount of immoral behavior that has occurred in the halls of Wawasee High School, I could see why they might have felt that way.  

By the end of the night we decided just to be thankful that we had the means and ability to move Meg and Cameron to Bethany Christian High School where the biggest complaints have been "My Spanish teacher only talks to me in Spanish." or "I can't believe that Michael made us read two novels in the summer."  We couldn't ask for a more supportive environment for our children to learn and grow.  

  

   

    

     

A Tough Win!

 Tonight Cam had a match in Fremont, Indiana.  He was really looking forward to it except for the hour and fifteen minute drive to get there.  As we pulled into the town close to both the Ohio and Michigan borders I heard him say to himself, "I didn't drive this far to lose."  I then secretly said a prayer that his statement would come true or that it would at least be a competitive match for him at #3 singles.

Cameron and I arrived before the bus, but since several other parents had driven their boys as well he was able to start hitting right away.  I was glad for that as I knew it would help with his nerves.  Doug was at Fremont a little earlier than we were as his drive from work was a bit shorter.  We watched the boys warm up.  I was impressed that even though their coach had not arrived yet, they all wore masks while on the court.  It was a sharp contrast to the players and fans from Fremont.

Cam and his opponent started their match well after 5:30.  From the start it was a back and forth battle with multiple deuce games and a lot of net play.  Cam played very well hitting multiple winners and serving extremely consistently.  The first set ended in a tie break with Cam winning 7-5.  There was one tense moment when a long ball call to the end the match was challenged by Cameron's opponent's father.  Both Matt and the Fremont coach said that the call stood as Cameron saw it.  I was glad that they were there to witness the event.  The Fremont parent had been intense throughout the match and had at times been coaching his son from afar which is against any rules of competitive tennis.  His behavior and that of the junior varsity players on the court beside Cameron's didn't do much to turn us into Eagles fans.  I did appreciate the moment when Josh said to their #1 JV singles player, "Dude, why are you getting so stressed out.  It's just a tennis matter.  It's no big deal."  Maybe he should have said that to Cam's opponent's father as well.

The disturbance in the crowd or the busted lip from his own racket didn't shake Cameron's focus and he jumped out to an early lead in the second set.  Cam was tired, but he hung in very well and finished the match with a back court winner and a 7-5; 6-3 victory.  He was extremely proud of his victory as he walked off the court to greet us.  We were as well.  He had fought hard and stayed on top of his nerves throughout.  Cam and Doug stayed to watch the rest of the match.  Even though varsity lost 2-3, he was still pleased with the night.  The only criticism that he got from coach Andrew was that he should have thrown the second set and won in the third.  That way he would have had a chance for the longest match in Bethany history at three hours and forty-five minutes.  We were alright, however, with the two hour and ten minute two set victory.

  

Fall Cleaning

Fall has always been the time that I have deep cleaned the house.  I know that a lot of people use the spring season for that, but it has always made sense to me to thoroughly clean once everyone went back to school.  I had used time in the spring instead to organize and pull items out for a garage sale.  I was thankful that I had already completed that last March well before the stay at home order or social distancing rules that would follow.  It gave me more time to spend with the Heinisch family.  

Even though all of the Heinisch children were not out of the home this August with Cal living in our basement and Cam working on e-learning, I decided to go ahead and clean once Meg went back to IU.  I started the daunting task on Monday August 17th and just finished yesterday.  Doug would tell you that our house was clean and organized before I started and Meg would say that I am the queen of cleaning an already clean house, but there were definitely some areas that needed serious attention.  It took me longer than I had expected since I added cleaning out the Pilot and Odyssey to my fall to-do list.  At 4:30 yesterday I really wanted to quit, but I knew I only had one room left to go so I decided to push ahead ans finish.  I was completely exhausted last night and my arm hurt from all of the dusting, sweeping, window washing and vacumming, but I was so incredibly glad to be done.   Now I just have to keep on top of it all until next fall.  That won't be too hard with less family members living in the Heinisch home this year.  I am really looking forward to a break from cleaning for awhile and enjoying watchign Cam's tennis, reading, playing the piano and learning how to crochet.  

Testing, Testing and More Testing

 Testing at the beginning of the school year has been normal in the Heinisch home over the years.  They have all succomed to many different type of tests, including NWEA, ISTEP, Star Reading to name a few.  This year's tests at least so far for Meg haven't involved any academics, however.  Instead they have all revolved around COVID-19.  First, she had to have a test within ten days of returning to IU which she took care of on August 12th.  Next, she had to have a rapid test when she arrived on move-in day last Wednesday.  Now she will have to have two more tests tomorrow - another one from IU as they have begun random testing for all students living on campus and a second from Bell Trace so that she can start working as a dining aide there.  The one from IU will be her first "spit" test while all of the rest have been the traditional nasal swab.  

Meg hasn't minded any of the testing at all as she wants to stay in Bloomington and will do whatever it takes to make that possible.  She wears her mask whenever she is outside of her apartment and only gets together with friends when social distancing is possible.  We have been impressed with her efforts to stay safe as well as IU's and Bloomington's to keep students on campus.  IU's mass testing has been a stark contrast to colleges including Notre Dame and Butlerthat have had to revert to online learning and/or sent students home shortly after they moved into their dorms.  The Bloomington mayor's immediate response to off campus parties with an ordinance limiting social gatherings to fifteen people was the perfect show of support for IU students wanting to continue their education in B-Town.  We are definitely all for that.

So Incredibly Tired of the Political Feud

 The last four years have been nothing but negativity surrounding both Republican and Democrat parties.  I believe that this had led to the unrest in America as a whole.  The number of protests this year has hit an all time high and the rioting in large cities has gotten out of control.  I read so many posts that blame Donald Trump.  I cannot disagree with the thought that his racist comments and poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic have led to chaos in the United States, but he is not the only one to blame.  The majority of the rioting has occurred in Democratic run cities and states and the party's cry to defund the police has not helped bring peace to our nation.  Now Joe Biden is saying that he will put the nation on lockdown if he is elected to stop COVID-19 and Trump is toting a coronavirus treatment to solve the pandemic, even though it hasn't been completely supported by the FDA.  Neither are good ideas as they could actually set back recovery for the United States both economically and medically.  I believe that their mutual lack of understanding the plight of Americans and selfish motives to win at all costs has been disgusting to watch.  It's going to be a long election season if this continues.  I wish there was an alternative.  It's like what Cameron told me today.  The 2020 election is like voting for Anakin vs. Darth Vader - neither is a good choice.

Last of the Mohicans

Last night Doug and I watched the movie Last of the Mohicans.  I had mentioned to him several times this summer that I really wanted to view it on the "big screen" and we finally had the chance.  It had been one of my favorite movies ever since we saw it at the theater in 1992.  Even though we had watched it many times on television since that time, I just thought that it would be the perfect movie to view with the projector outside, almost like our own private drive-in movie.  

Thankfully, I was correct, and Doug and I both enjoyed it very much.  Daniel Day-Lewis was perfect in the role of Nathaniel once again, but watching the scenes in the forest, along the waterfall and on the battlefield were meant for a big screen.  My favorite part was when they were walking through the forest at night and the closed captioning read "crickets chirping" as we were listening to the cicadas chirping in our own woods.  When Meg first mentioned getting a projector for outdoor movie nights I thought it was a nice idea for her and her friends.  I didn't realize how much enjoyment that the rest of us would get out of it as well.  Next on the agenda will be The Quiet Man.  The Irish backdrop will be perfect for our own personal drive-in.  Who knows, maybe next year I'll buy a real screen for it and a speaker.  For now I'm just happy to enjoy one of our favorite social distancing activities.  

Almost Felt Like Normal

 This morning Cam, Doug and I went to Paige's Crossing for a round of minature golf.  We were able to play twice before lunch time.  Cam won on the B course easily and then Doug beat us once again on the C course.  He has now won the last three out of four rounds and I have fallen apart each time that we played.  Win or lose, it was a lot of fun playing.

After mini golf we headed to Warsaw to pick up lunch.  On the way we passed the Blue Brothers or at least two guys dressed like them in a vehicle decorated just like theirs including an "Elwood" license plate.  We had planned to grab lunch at Mad Anthony's, but a mix-up in our order led us to Buffalo Wild Wings instead.  It was a nice change of pace and a rare treat for the three of us.

The afternoon was spent with Doug and I engaged in a Ticket to Ride tournament.  We played each of the five versions that we owned and I redeemed myself from my mini golf showing with a 3-2 victory.  Cam used his time to set up NBA2K and played that until the real games started.  We spent the evening outside with a bonfire and the playoffs on the big screen in between viewings of Last of the Mohicans.  It was a lot of fun and gave it a drive-in feel.  In fact with Brett, Cal and Meg all in Bloomington this weekend it almost felt like we were back living our fall 2019 life without any worry of COVID, at least for a little while anyway.