The usual disclaimer and just to let readers know that Dekeisha Adams, Liza Barry, and Whitney Larkin belong to Betsy Haynes, not the current author. Ditto any other characters Fab Five fans recognize. Some of the OTGY letters are from the former Fab Five as well as the BSC. And as Ann Martin says to readers, happy reading!

The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count

By: CNJ

PG-13

12: OTGY Repercussions

Kristy:

Wow, what a stink some parents are raising over OTGY. I wondered if Ms. Silverbein had gotten calls about the because on Wednesday, she came over the loudspeaker and told us that she'd seen our letters and was proud of us.

"...and I'm honored to have students who can express themselves in a constructive way," she finished. I let out a loud whoop and several kids joined in.

In English class, Ms. Cerrata let us know that she'd read our letters.

"...and I might remind you all that you took on an enormous responsibility by organizing this event...and I read all of the letters and am quite impressed. I see I've taught you a lot about good, clear writing and you've incorporated it into your lives. Good work, everyone."

She actually cracked a smile at us, which is rare. As I hiked down the hall after that class, I heard two teachers debating.

"..don't want to admit that the slew of adolescent crime and delinquency is much worse today," Ms. Wirstwind was saying. "Too many of today's parents are just not there and it can't be good for kids."

"It's another finger-pointing at working mothers!" Ms. Buchwald put in. "I get tired of hearing this too and I think these kids have a point. I myself have a twelve-year-old and she's better off because of my career..." she held up her hand.

"Naa...not materially, but what about emotionally...?"

The bell was about to ring, so all of us scattered to get to class. I got to math class and slid next to Mary Anne.

"Hey, teachers are debating over us!" I told her excitedly.

"Yeah, I hear them too." Mary Anne's brows were slanted in worry. "I saw two parents outside of Ms. Silverbein's office. I just hope there's not a fight over this. There's supposed to be a parent-teacher meeting on Monday and I just hope we don't have a situation like that school spirit war back at SMS."

I remembered that and how it had raised a lot of stink because some kids were fighting over participation in Stoneybrook Middle School's spirit month back in eighth grade.

Dawn:

Mary Anne and I were getting ready for school on Thursday morning when I opened the fridge to grab my lunch and saw the newspaper there. I chuckled softly and realized that Mom must have been reading it and left it there when she and Richard rushed off to work.

I pulled it out along with my lunch and gasped, "My...God..." when I saw that it was the editorial section and what was in it. A lot of adults had written in. Some were supportive of OTGY; some were opposed.

"Dawn..." Mary Anne called. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," I called. I joined her and we left for school. "Look at this."

Mary Anne leafed through it and read what was in there. I think she tried keeping her eyes on the page and walking, but was shaky on her feet. We laughed a little.

I remembered Mary Anne telling me that she'd wanted to walk and read at the same time like Claudia's older sister Janine.

"Oh, come on..." Mary Anne muttered. "Did you see what a couple named Pendergast wrote in here?" Claudia and Stacey joined us and we showed them the paper.

"I saw that," Stacey told us. "Did you see a letter from a Ms. Shannon in there?"

I looked and sure enough, there was a letter in support of us by a Willie Shannon saying how encouraged she was by what she say in today's youth and how she had a daughter from Burkeview who'd contributed.

"That's Katie from Burkeview, her mom. Remember we met Katie at Aster and Dusker's?"

We nodded.

"I wonder if all her friends from her group contributed.

"I could ask Mona," Mary Anne offered. We met Mona at school and she told us that two of her friends, Beth and Christie contributed.

"I hear Beth is going by Liza now," Mona told us as we went to our lockers to get our books. Just then, Abby, Anna, and Kristy joined us.

"Boy, it looks like we started a MOVEMENT here!" Abby's dark eyes were wide as she looked around.

Abby had been a bit nervous at first about this OTGY, but had relaxed and was now into it.
A lot of kids waved to us.

Some kids called out things like, "Great going!" and "Thanks for making all of us heard!" The day was a blast; a lot of kids stopped to talk about OTGY and about the media in general.

Mary Anne:

At the journalism club after school, Ms. Fedders let us know that she was on our side. "It's wonderful how you all used the media so constructively," she told us.

"I wonder how they managed to squeeze so many in there," Renee Weng wondered.

"Yeah, there were THOUSANDS," Winlow Brammers added.

"Probably by computer," Enid Hadler put in. "Some newspapers still have them coming in."

"Did you see today's paper?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Kids nodded.

"I hope some parents don't badmouth our generation even more to the media. I hear at Stamford two parents almost got into a fistfight there," Gina Chiang told us. "My own mom's been on my side, but my grandparents haven't been and were on the phone getting on my mom's case."

For a while, things were in a clatter was we talked about this week's events, then Ms. Fedders put up a hand and told us, "Okay, Beaconers, much as I'd love for us to continue this discussion, we do have our own paper to get out. So, let's put our minds to work on our own paper, so it can be heard."

Slowly, we got to the editing of articles. I'd been writing on OTGY and had my article on the release of the letters in here. It looked as if next month, there would be a third piece on this.

"...so when he told me how much our daughters have changed, I agreed," Dad was telling us that night at dinner.

Sharon, Dad, Dawn and I managed to be home for dinner that night. With all four of us on busy schedules, it's a feat to manage that more than a two or three times a week.

"I told him they had changed for the better and matured beautifully."

"What a comeback, Richard," Dawn dug into her spinach.

She and Sharon were having spinach lasagna while Dad and I were having tortellini with meat balls.

"They're off and flying at my work too," Sharon told us. "Several people were by the water cooler debating on whether kids are better today and whether feminism was good for society."

"That second part of the debate is like asking of it's good that we have a vaccine for polio," I put in.

I think feminism is one of the best things about living today right up there with vaccines, caller ID and democracy.

Claudia:

At first my parents weren't sure if OTGY was a good idea, not because they didn't think it was right, but I think because they were worried about how other parents might react.

My aunt Peaches and Uncle Russ came over for dinner that night and brought little Lynn with them. She is one cute baby! I love it when they bring her over. She's two now.

"Think about it this way," Peaches said at the table as we ate dessert. "If people were always afraid of others' negative reactions, no one would bother and society would never move forward. We'd still have slavery, child labor, and women not being able to vote if some people hadn't been willing to risk negative reactions to take a stand."

"Good point." Dad sipped his coffee.

"Cookie...more?" Lynn reached toward the plate. Peaches nodded and I reached over and handed my little cousins another cookie.

"Yeah, Lynn, when you get to be my age, this world will be a better place," I told her. My parents grinned at her and me as she looked around with her big curious eyes.

Dawn:

Mary Anne and I got to school early on Friday morning. Mary Anne dashed off to a quick morning rehearsal with her band for the upcoming holiday production.

I slowly headed toward my locker and as I was passing by Ms. Silverbein's office, I could hear voices inside. The door was slightly ajar and a middle-aged man seemed to be arguing with Ms. Silverbein.

"...encouraging disrespect for authority!" Another ticked-off parent, I thought.

But I heard, "...it's in my school, Burkeview High and parents have been calling me to complain and blame me..." I glanced in from the hall.

"Robert..." Ms. Silverbein seemed to be trying to calm him down as she put up her hand.

Robert kept ranting on, paying no attention to her attempt at placating him.

"Robert...Mr. Brooke...Mr. Brooke..." Ms. Silverbein was struggling to keep her cool, but swallowed audibly mid-word instead.

I walked on so they didn't see me. So, Mr. Brooke is apparently the principal from Burkeview. I had been hoping Ms. Silverbein isn't getting too much of a hard time over Operation Today's Good Youth.

Mona:

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is this week. That Monday evening, Mom rushed off to the Parent-Teacher meeting while I finished my homework, then talked to Mary Anne and Claudia a while on the phone.

"I wonder what's happening at the PT gathering," Claudia wondered out loud.

It was actually a meeting of several high schools in the area, so Burkeview teachers and parents would be there also.

"Hopefully not going Springer on each other," I told her.

Quite a few parents are up in arms about OTGY. My mom's been supportive, thank goodness. She'd sent a copy to my grandmother and older sister, who's in college. I was glad they were both coming for Thanksgiving.

I was later getting ready for bed when Mom come home. I'd made her promise to tell me how it went.

"Mom..." I called as I pulled on my nightshirt.

"Hi, honey." She hung up her jacket. "Want some chocolate?"

"Sure." I nodded and went into the kitchen.

"So...did anyone go Springer on each other?" I asked once we sat with the cocoa.

Mom laughed a little and ruffled my hair. "Not really. But there were a lot of...exchanges, I should say. I saw Elizabeth and Watson Brewer as well as Sharon and Richard there. We sat together.

"Rachel Stevenson joined us too. A group of conservative parents pointed at her and claimed that her daughter was a troublemaker! Can you imagine? Rachel had some good comebacks and let all of us at the meeting know just how proud she was of both of her daughters.

"Richard and Sharon joined her and said they were proud parents of their daughters. And I might add that I told everyone how proud I am of you."

"Wow. Thanks." I sipped my chocolate. "You know, this whole Operation Today's Good Youth was Abby's idea. She helped get SHS back on track..."

I told Mom about how we were fighting back against the In clique at school. "...I just hope the Burkeview kids are doing the same. There still weren't that many letters by them."

"I wouldn't be too discouraged," Mom patted my hand. "Maybe the widespread turnout will encourage them to fight back against the clique at their school and join with their support in this event."

I hoped Mom was right. Once we finished our cocoa, I gave Mom a good night hug and went upstairs to bed.

Ms. Silverbein seemed tense and subdued the next day, but she came over the loudspeaker and told us that she was backing us all the way in OTGY, then wished us a happy Thanksgiving.

"We're FREEEEE!" Claudia shouted once school let out and we headed to our lockers.

"Some conservative parents really gave poor Ms. Silverbein flak at meeting," Mary Anne told us as we gathered by our lockers to get our things and head home. "Sharon and Dad told me that a Mr. Pendergast practically threatened her with a lawsuit."

"Mom and Richard stood up for her, though," Dawn added.

"So did Abby and Anna's mom," Kristy put in. "They told Mr. Pendergast that parents can't push educators around with lawsuit threats."

"I just hope Ms. Silverbein doesn't have serious problems with some of the conservatives," Anna closed her locker.

"Ms. Silverbein's not to type who can be bullied," Claudia hoisted her backpack over her shoulder.

Mary Anne, Stacey, and I had baby-sitting jobs that afternoon, so all of us rushed off to our T-day break.

All of us BSC met at Aster and Dusker's that night. There were lot other kids there from SHS and other schools as well.

"Way to go, Abby and Anna!" Caitlin Giotti called. "My mom told me about how your mom stood up to some of the unenlightened parents! Your mom's great!"

Almost everyone from SHS was gathered in clusters and talking about last night's PT meeting and how different reacted.

"I heard that Channel 3 was there!" someone crowed. "With a camera and reporters and everything."

"Heyyy, our parents and teachers are FAMOUS!" Jackie Madesky whooped and we laughed. "I hope they get Ms. Silverbein in there; I think it's great that she's stood by us all the way."

"I notice how tense she is," Mary Anne told us. "I hope over Thanksgiving, she can relax."

"I heard Mr. Bruno was there and was spouting off on how OTGY was ruining America's reputation," Emily Bernstein put in. "And Ms. Bruno was trying to calm him down, but Mr. Bruno got into a really loud argument with one of Burkeview's teachers, then with a Ms. Barry, then he and his wife got into a fight."

"Wow, you mean Logan Bruno's parents?" Kristy asked.

"Yeah. My mom told me about it," Emily nodded.

As we talked, more kids from other schools drifted into our section and joined the conversation.

"Wow, you must have had SOME meeting," a girl from Earhart High chimed in.

"Think it would make a good Springer piece?" someone else asked.

"More like a Ricci Lake piece," Susan Perry put in. "My mom told me no one got into any fistfights or anything, but things got loud and intense there."

It was getting late, so kids started drifting home. Stacey had her mom's car, so she offered Claudia, Mary Anne, and me a ride home. We all wished each other a happy Thanksgiving and parted.

"This is some phenomenon going on," Stacey told us on the way home.

"I know," Claudia told us. "I didn't think it would hit the news."

"Hey, if it changes the media's and adults' view of our generation, we'll have accomplished something," Mary Anne put in.

As we headed up Bradford Court, I looked out at some remaining leaves blowing in the wind and the change of seasons and thought about how our letters had started things blowing, but for a good cause, to change this world for the better.