Still don't own anything. Thank you for your encouraging reviews.
The assignment is actually a part of something my son did in 7th grade.
Lets say these kids are 15-16 year olds.
HOME WORK - FIRST CLASS
"Settle down, settle down please, so we can begin. Do not turn over the paper on your desk. Hello, my name is Stephanie Plum but for some reason everybody calls me Mickie. You may call me Mickie or Steph, but please, not Ms. Plum. Because I'm new here would you be so kind as to come and get the paper with your name when called upon and put it at the front of your desk. We'll also do a round of introduction." I see a class of 22 eager students with a diverse ethnicity.
1 Marco Allende - Here (big brown eyes and black short hair)
2 Steve Akumba - Here (tall and lanky)
3 Mary Brown - Here (red hair and freckles)
4 Carmela Di Mateo - Here (olive skin and cropped platinum blond hair in spikes)
5 Stacy Fisher - Here (tiny with blue eyes)
6 Ahmed Hussein - Here (Thwab, traditional muslim male dress)
7 Peter Johnson - Here (muscular, dimples, navy crop)
8 Ana-Maria Kalinowski - Here (big girl with braid to the waist)
9 Rachel Kimura - Here (petite with glasses)
10 Hai Ngyen Kui - Here (slightly round face, smiling)
11 Patric Lacroix - Here (tall and muscular, creole)
12 Julie Martine - Here (long black hair and pretty smile)
13 Elena Martinez - Here (tall and skinny, bad acne)
14 Peik Nam - Here (bad acne)
15 Michael Navarro - Here (long black hair, racially conventional nose)
16 Robert Ono - Here (looks just like his grandmother)
17 Lucas Parker - Here (auburn curly hair)
18 Geena Prakash - Here (nose piercing)
19 Dave Qin - Here (mohawk and pierced ears and nose)
20 Maryanne Rahman - Here (hijab)
21 Tiina Saari - Here (blond and blue eyes)
22 Silvia Vargas - Here (brown short hair, athletic)
The students sit down and going one by one they tell me something about them selves, their families, pets, hobbies and social life. I tell them where I'm from and how long I've been in Miami. They were pretty impressed by New Jersey, no I do not know John Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen. Nor do I know Tom Cruise or Zoe Saldana. But I have met Kristen Dunst at Point Pleasant once. They all know each other, they've been together since fifth grade. The friendship bonds are strong and it doesn't look like there is anyone who doesn't have at least one friend among their peers. That's always a relief.
"Welcome to Home Economics Basic 1. This semester you'll be doing one special project, it'll take the whole spring and at the end of term you'll be graded pass or fail. You'll be paired with the opposite gender to make it more authentic. On your desks you'll find the assignment. Please read it and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask." There is rustling when the papers are turned over. Then, silence. I walk around and try to memorize something about everybody to better remember their names. Luckily I jotted down some notes when they retrieved their name tags.
After about ten minutes I can hear murmur and whispers. Some hands start to appear in the air.
"Yes, Dave?"
"Do we like have to move in together? Cause I can't have a girl stay at my house. I have four sisters, it'll be too much."
"No Dave, you do not need to move in together. Most of the work can be done in class. You will need to do some excursions in the city."
"Yes, Elena?"
"Do we need to like actually look for a job? My uncle is unemployed and he says it's really bad out there. Especially if you don't have any experience or any education."
"No you don't really need to look for a job. You choose a job that you might find interesting in the future and you investigate that."
"Ana-Maria"
"I don't see any cooking. Mom told me there was going to be cooking in this class."
"Don't worry, you will be doing cooking and baking too."
"Ahmed, you had a question."
"My family is muslim, we don't celebrate Christmas."
"You can do things that your family does for Ramadan in stead. That goes for anybody else with a different religion as well, Hanukka, Kwanza, Vesak, Diwali. What ever your family celebrates as the biggest holiday of the year. You do that instead."
"Anybody else? Ok, take this home and talk with your parents about it. If they have any questions or concerns tell them to please call or email me. I want you to return the curriculum with a parental signature. Remember, this class is mandatory so all missed classes need to be confirmed by a parent or guardian. If you have a doctors appointment or dental appointment, tell me in advance. Getting a haircut is no excuse to miss class, reschedule that. Same goes for driving lessons. As you will be working in pairs not only are you responsible for your own grade, you are also responsible for your partners grade. Bear that in mind when you want to ditch class and hang at the mall."
"Yes, Julie"
"My mom and dad are on a world wide cruise at the moment and they'll be gone till the end of May. I stay with Ranger Mañoso."
"You stay with a Ranger, like a Park Ranger?"
"No, my father is called Ranger, his real name is Carlos but everybody calls him Ranger. Does he count?"
"Well, is he responsible for you? Is he listed as a parent or guardian in the school records?"
"I think so."
"Ok, I'll check, in the mean time his signature is good. Does anybody else have a responsible adult with a different last name? No? Now lets partner up. I made the list before I met you and I hope you'll agree with my choices. If you have a specific reason not to be with you assigned partner, please tell me. 'I don't like his hair' or 'she lives too far away' does not count as a valid reason. Everybody good with that?" 22 bobbing heads.
"Good, lets get started;
1) Marco and Carmela
2) Steve and Elena
3) Peik and Mary
4) Michael and Julie
5) Robert and Stacy
6) Ahmed and Silvia
7) Peter and Maryanne
8) Hai and Tiina
9) Lucas and Rachel
10) Dave and Ana-Maria
11) Patric and Geena
You all good with the pairs? Good."
Please push your tables together and start planning. You still got about twenty minutes left before recess."
"For your first home work you'll need to do the laundry in your hamper. Read the tags and separate. Extra points for ironing. See you next week."
The bell rings and class is dismissed.
I wonder if this Ranger Carlos is related to Celia and Enrique? How common is the name Mañoso? I'll have to ask Hector. Or maybe I'll reward my self with a glass of wine at SoBe tonight.