Author's Note: Hey I'm back with another new story. This is something I've wanted to do for a while now. To be honest a lot of my friends have kids now and recently I've been thinking how awesome it would be to be a parent. To teach a little one certain things and after some more brainstorming I came up with this. It turned out a little differently than I first planned but I'm kind of proud of it. I decided to shake up the whole Titans-in-school scenario yet again. Let me know what you think.
Jumpside Elementary
Chapter 1
A new year has started at Jumpside Elementary School bringing with it new lives and challenges. Due to budget cuts and with a lot of the older teachers retiring before the school year, a changing of the guard has taken place bringing in seven new teachers fresh out of college and ready to start their first semester together. The faculty welcomed new teachers Richard Grayson, Kori Anders, Gar Logan, Vic Stone, Rachael Roth, Tara Markov and Sarah Simms. Having graduated together and knowing each other since grade school to high school they were eager to kickoff their careers as neophyte educators.
As each teacher was introduced to the staff and then to their classrooms, Kori Anders age 23 was the new kindergarten teacher replacing the 63-year-old Mrs. Sturgis. While 22 year old Tara Markov would be teaching the preschool class replacing the last teacher that been promoted to an 8th grade class. 24-year-old Richard Grayson had 1st grade, while his friend 25 year old Vic Stone will teach gym. 24 year old Rachel Roth teaches 7th grade citing that she may handle the older kids better, while 23 year old Gar Logan would be handling 4th grade history. And finally the 24-year-old Sarah Simms will be teaching special education, and was joined by a third year teacher named Karen Beecher who was 25. After settling into their classrooms for a bit, the new staff reunited with the older members of the faculty in the teacher's lounge. Helping themselves to coffee and heating up their lunches in the microwave the new blood got acquainted with the more senior educators. Richard took his dinner out of the microwave and joined the others on a small green couch against the wall, as the senior staff sat across from them.
Amongst them was a man in his early 60s whose hair was swept back into two large tufts, wearing a white dress shirt and red tie with black slacks. Next to him was a British gentleman with a mop of auburn hair and sideburns, with little rectangular glasses that looked to be in his 40s wearing a garish blue sweater with bright red stripes crisscrossing in a pattern reminiscent resembling the Union Jack flag, with a neckerchief, and tight fitting white slacks. Next to him was an overweight man in his 30s in a loose fitting black dress shirt with the top button undone and wasn't tucked in, with brown pants and sneakers with an orange mullet that came down to his waist, and was poorly shaven. Sitting in total contrast next to him was a prim older woman who looked to be nearing 40, and of European descent with short black hair dressed in a red blouse, and a black knee length skirt with one leg crossed over as she sat elevated above the others. Sitting opposite of her was a man that looked to be in his mid 30s to early 40s with black frost tipped hair, hallowed cheeks and wore a white shirt under a black short sleeved button down and dark pants. Finally joining them was their employer the principle a man in his sixties with medium length white hair that was parted down the middle, with a beard and mustache and several wrinkles wearing a black suit and tie.
"Welcome new faculty, my name is Slade Wilson principle here at Jumpside Elementary. Since we are less than 24 hours away from the first day of school I thought was appropriate that you'd be introduced to the senior members of our staff. These are Sebastian Blud 7th grade science, Neil Richards 8th grade world history, Conrad Freakshaw jr. high band, Laura DeMill 5th grade social studies, and Arthur Light 3rd grade English. If you have any questions during the school year feel free to ask them. Staff meet Richard Grayson, Kori Anders, Gar Logan, Vic Stone, Tara Markov, Rachael Roth and Sarah Simms." Mr. Wilson stated.
The sides got up and shook hands with one another as the old greeted the new.
"Hi, Richard." he said shaking hands with Blud.
"Sebastian, always a pleasure welcoming young ones aboard." He replied.
"Ello me duckies, Neil Richards is the name." he said shaking hand with Kori and then kissing her hand causing the twenty something to blush.
"Oh. Kori Anders." She said embarrassed slight.
"Charmed, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Call me Neil." He replied while Ms. DeMill rolled her eyes behind him.
"Nevermind the old man he has a tendency of…how do you say? Hitting on the new teachers." She added dryly.
"Old man? Now see here I'm not a day over 40. I'm the same age as you are Laura." He replied snippedly as the older woman glared at him causing Neil to jump.
"Nee-uh." He recoiled before she walked past and Neil whispered into Kori's ear.
"Ah pay her no mind she's always been rather caustic. She has." He muttered to her. Kori smiled back at her friends bemused by the older man's advances.
And it wasn't long before Neil introduced himself to the other lovely ladies. Rachael who responded to him coldly, while Tara and Sarah were similarly embarrassed but politely maintained their composure in spite of themselves. After the lunch break ended they went back to their homerooms studying rosters and lesson plans for the next day. For some the task seemed more daunting than others. In less than 24 hours Tara will be the sole teacher in charge of the preschool class. As was typical her homeroom was twice the size of the others, shelves filled with toys of every sort for girls and boys. Barbie dolls, action figures, stuffed animals, cars, tanks and helicopters in assorted sizes, Hot Wheels tracks, pedal cars, tricycles, a playhouse, a small outdoor playground with brightly colored plastic climbing walls with little circles to climb on, and a slide and several other things that came with it, including fake steering wheels and puzzle games on the walls above and around the slide. And several large emergency vehicles including a police car, fire truck and ambulance with sirens that lit up, a doctor's bag with stylized versions of a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor, toy band-aids, a syringe and other such accoutrements. She looked over at the two large tables forming a circle with twenty-four tiny chairs surrounding it along with the Disney and Sesame Street imagery plastering the walls, as well as the large older television strapped down to a cart and the plethora of Barney DVDs along with the aforementioned Sesame Street and Disney specials.
Tara sighed and almost collapsed into her seat realizing all that she'll have to handle tomorrow. Suddenly wondering if she was insane for wanting to teach preschool? For the other new teachers however their classrooms were a little more organized, but no less daunting wondering if they had what it takes to teach the next generation…and whether or not they'll survive the first day. The answer will be revealed as they wait anxious and some not so anxiously. After spending the entire day in empty classrooms, the teachers decided to have a look around the grounds where they hoped to remain employed for years to come. Prowling the hallways for the umpteenth time it wasn't long before Richard ventured outside to see two of his fellow peers camped out on the swing set. He had to appreciate the irony of the teachers themselves using the playground and came up to his collogues Gar and Tara who sat next to each other with Gar swinging at mid height while Tara remained anchored to the ground.
A smile played on Richard's face as Tara started pushing back and caught up with Gar a moment later while the pair climbed higher. At that same time Kori could be found sitting sidesaddle on one of the animal rides as Richard went to join Gar and Tara taking a swing on the far left hand side and started pushing back and swung slightly. Kori smiled and got off the rocking 'horse' and sat next to Richard joining him in flight. The auburn haired girl smiled at Richard and dared to go higher and swinging at full length like Tara and Gar on the other end. Richard didn't feel like going very high himself but gave it some effort and swung at half the level the others did and were off reliving their childhood as Vic, Rachel and Sarah stood next to the building watching them. Giving into the simple joy, Sarah joined her collogues taking a swing on the opposite end of Tara and Gar and started up, and was soon at the same height as the others. From their windows the elder staff caught sight of the newer team at different intervals from their workstations. In any other instance this would be seen as grossly unprofessional by the older staff, but today a large majority of them were bemused by the young staff, enjoying the last day before school as only they could.
That night across the city parents ran through the checklist of school supplies for their children. Making sure they had everything needed for the coming year, filing them neatly into their backpacks as the kids looked on some with anticipation and others showcased their dread. While the teachers recounted their lesson plans in preparation for the coming day.
At Tara's house however the young twenty something did more than study, putting in the last load of laundry for the night and starting up the washing machine, piling the last load into the dryer, and transporting the dry load that came before in a basket to her bedroom while her young niece watched 'Barney' in the living room. The purple dinosaur's signature song filled the room as Tara walked past her five year old niece who sat cross legged on the floor infront of the TV watching the program for the umpteenth time. Tara rushed into her room to drown out the lyrics she had known since childhood, sorting the clothing out on her bed while the perfume of her detergent filled the house. The warmth of her shirts and other articles filling her skin as she lovingly put them away in her closet. Pressing a freshly dried towel against her cheek she strolling into the living room and called out to her niece that it was time for bed. Her niece remained infront of the TV and called back that it was only 8pm, and her aunt reminded her that she had school in the morning.
Across town, parents were getting children ready for bed to their protests, one young boy wanted to stay up past 9 and watch TV. While at another residence another boy his age read his favorite comic book under the sheets. The boy's mother stuck her head in the door to say good night only to catch him reading his comic and flipped on the light grabbing the boy's attention and pulling the blanket off of him. The boy looked up at his mom innocently, his mother giggled slightly.
"Time for bed Mark." she told him.
"Just a few more pages mom. I'm almost done with this." he said sitting Indian style with the comic book and flashlight in hand. His mother smiled at him.
"You can read 'Mighty Crusaders' tomorrow." she told him and started laying him down.
"New Crusaders, mom. And I just got this one. I've been reading it all evening. The Shield just put the new team together and I got to find out how it ends!" he protested softly. His mother sighed looking down at him and then over to the nightstand where the confiscated comic book laid.
The cover displaying a collage of the eponymous team in action. which showcased a girl in a black jumpsuit with insect wings and a mask shooting a pistol, an older man in an American flag themed suit of armor with stars on his chest and triangular shields on his gauntlets with gray swept back hair and a beard seated behind a table smiling, to his left was a broad shouldered teen in a red and blue short sleeved costume knocking out a bad guy, along with a larger image of a person wearing a cat themed helmet showing half her face, bisecting the helmeted figure's image was a man in a black and white costume shooting straight up with a sky blue aura like a rocket in flight, to his right was a boy in a blue and gold jumpsuit with a glowing web like cape, and finally to his left teenage boy with flaming hair and a wreath of flames coming from his hands. The title of the comic reading 'New Crusaders: Rise of the Heroes' and a splash of text heralding it as the first issue.
The mother smiled and decided to indulge him.
"All right five more minutes. So who are these guys?" she asked sitting down next to him and peeked at the comic as her son took it back.
"Okay you see this old guy at the bottom?" he asked pointing at the figure.
"Yeah?" she said.
"That's the Shield, he was part of the old Crusaders. All these others are the kids of his teammates, they have the same superhero names and everything. He rescued them and decided to form the New Crusaders." the boy explained.
"Oh okay." she said sounding interested.
"That one with the wings and gun is Fly-Girl, the one above her is the Web. The guy in the middle with the helmet is the Jaguar, she's a girl. She's also really strong. Next to her is Steel Sterling, he's the strongest guy on the team. He's got huge muscles, the one above him is Fireball, he shoots fire from his hands. And the guy up in the air is the Comet he can fly." the boy finished explaining.
"Oh well that is interesting. Okay finish up your reading and then its bedtime mister." his mom said roughing his hair.
"Five minutes." she reminded him as she walked out.
"Yes mom." he said picking up where he left off.
"Good night." she said turning off the light.
"Good night mom." Mark said as his mother closed the door.
The next morning was the start of the school year as cars and vans pulled up to the front door of the elementary school and kids were dropped off by the busload. Children rushed to their classes storing things in their lockers and shuffled quickly towards homeroom. Chairs were scooted in and out as they took their seats and the teachers stood ready. Kori, Rich, Tara, Gar, Vic, Rachael, Sarah and Karen each stepped out behind their desks and went to the front of their classrooms to introduce themselves. For Tara it was a little more hectic as she had to convince the preschoolers not to immediately bolt towards the play area, while in the kindergarten class Kori's students were already at their desks silent and well behaved having put their stuff away in their little cubby holes.
Richard after introducing himself took a seat in front of the class as he introduced himself, while Vic got ready to play basketball with his first group of students ever. Gar made his way about the class as students flipped open their books and he started the lesson. Rachael had similar success as her 7th grade class was already underway. Halfway through first period however Tara's classroom fell into chaos as children ran rampant during playtime with Tara trying to corral 20 rambunctious toddlers, and maintain order...which she was failing horribly at. Her nerves and golden hair already frayed Tara did her best to get them under control holding one little boy underneath her arm while the other children raced about. At one point one of the kids got a hold of the paint to be used for arts and crafts and started flinging it about, splatting her in the face as she turned and shrieked as it hit. Tara stood frozen in shock dropping the boy as he ran off. The door opened a second later as a curious older woman looked in and stood witness to the havoc as Tara stood there with green paint smeared across her face and hair.
The older teacher soon took control of the situation and ordered all the students back to their chairs before ushering the poor girl out. The first period bell would ring a short time later and students went to their next class while Tara washed the paint off her face in the lavatory. Despite her best efforts couldn't get the paint out of her hair, covering the left side of her front tresses as well as having some of it on her clothes, and looked as though she was about to cry. The older teacher came into check on her and held the younger consoling her while keeping her tainted tresses at a distance. It wasn't long till word got out among the faculty as Tara was forced to make her way up to the principle's office to explain why she was leaving. Mr. Wilson was taken aback when he saw the young teacher's face.
"What happened?" he asked sitting his desk.
"It's um...it was an accident. Can I be excused please?" she asked trying to hold herself together.
"Well sure of course. Go take care of it." he responded generously gesturing towards the door.
"Thank you." she said and bolted out. Slade quirked his lip and shook his head.
"Poor thing." he said and hit the intercom button on his desk calling the front office.
"Mrs. Blake?" he said.
"Yes?" the voice on the other end answered.
"Ms. Markov has a personal issue to take care of. Can you make sure that someone watches her class while she's away?" he requested from his desk.
"Ms. Halloway is already on it chief. She volunteered and was the one that found her." the secretary replied.
"And what of her class?" he inquired.
"She said she gave them a study time." the secretary responded. The principle quirked the lip again contemplating this.
"Very good. I'll be checking on them in a bit." he replied and signed off. A knock at the door however interrupted his plans as the door opened and a rotund older woman brought in a young male student.
"Mr. Wilson sorry to bother you, but this boy was reading a comic book in class." the teacher explained.
"Did he fight with the teacher?" he asked from his desk.
"All right, leave him here." he replied and the teacher dropped him off before shutting the door behind her. Mr. Wilson then turned his attention back to the student who looked at him shyly taking a seat.
"Mark you know better." he explained.
"He wouldn't give me back my comic." the boy replied.
"Your not supposed to read those in class. That's why he took it away." the principle said.
"But I finished my homework and everything." he answered.
"All of it?" Slade asked.
"I was taking a break." he replied.
"I'll talk to the teacher and see if he'll let you have your comic book back. But this is the last time you should leave those at home. Now if you'll excuse me I have another manner to attend to." Mr. Wilson said getting up and leaving the boy in his office.
"I wonder if the other new teachers are fairing any better?" the principle muttered.
Author's note: All right well that was certainly different wasnt it? I started this story last Sunday and kind of took a break from it, but all this week this story has been on my mind. Truth be told I think I miss writing X High School and I wanted to do something that had a similar atmosphere but at the same time something a little different. Something that didnt feel like a rehashing of the same tired old tropes and cliches of standard Titans high school fiction. So I thought what if they were teachers? The idea had a lot of promise to me and just couldn't stop thinking about it. I think one of the things I loved about writing X High was that I loved doing the little snippets of life, things like rainstorms, hanging out with friends, watching the sunrise just I don't know for some reason I find interest in the mundane. Anyway I'm sorry if the latter part of this opening chapter seemed a little scattered. To be honest the school part would probably work alot better in the second chapter. But just leaving it off where the boy reading the comic says good night to his mother seemed too abrupt. Am I weird for thinking that? Well I'll stop rambling for now. XD Let me know what you think.
Please review,
Green Gallant.