I am doing a really bad thing this week, and I can’t quite get myself to stop.

This is alumni week, and grads of RVA are coming from all over the world to come back to campus for a week. There is really quite an attachment between the students and this place, and it is easy to tell who is an alum.

I can’t stop finding out names of alums, and then going over and saying `MIKE! How the heck are you? How long has it been?’ The reactions have been pretty much what you expect: stuttering, stammering, and deep gazes trying to determine just who I am. When I don’t blow it by laughing, I can string it along for a good long time.

There was a varsity vs. alumni soccer game today, and the halftime show was the first through sixth graders, who marched unto the field, formed a very wobbly RVA, and then played on kazoos and recorders `When the Saints Go Marching In.’ It was pretty cute, and some could tell the tune of the song without being told.

They split my fifth grade computer class between girls and boys because they were doing a health section and they did not want them to giggle during it, so it has set up an interesting competition to end the year with. They had to do a series of problems with database, spreadsheet, and typing trials, and the winning group would get an ice cream party.

The losers would get a broccoli party.

For sheer motivation, I don’t know if I have seen anything that works as good as broccoli. When one kid asked: `Do we have to EAT it?’ I answered `Buckets and Buckets worth.’ Even the thrill of the end of the year and the distractions it provides cannot equal the horror of broccoli to young children, so I am getting tremendous results from them.

I used a different motivation with Fred. I have been trying to teach him how to type, and he told me that he would never get it. I told him he was probably right, but if he did manage to type 20 words a minute, I would give him a cash bonus.

He is now typing 55 words a minute. Nuff said.

The yearbooks came out this week, and it is a huge event at RVA. On Friday night, we all went into the main auditorium to see the unveiling. The RVA tradition is that each yearbook is dedicated to a staff member, and they had an elaborate ceremony with flashing lights, rapping and a skit to introduce the couple that was honored. It was refreshing and touching, and I walked away again thinking that this might be an area where Africa has it over the states.

We are leaving in eight days. There are many mixed emotions, but I knew that things were stirring deeply in me when two of my badminton students put their arms around me and said `Mr. Peifer, we’re proud to be maggots.’

The fact that it choked me up is probably a good indication that its time to go home.  We fly out on July 18 and arrive in TX on July 19.

Next week will be the last one. I promise.

YP