Reconnecting

A School Like No Other has been out nearly two months now. Slowly, people are hearing about it, and I am beginning to receive orders.

One of the unexpected, but most rewarding, effects of the book has been the way I have been able to reconnect with so many students, parents, and teachers. We have had a chance to talk about some of the stories in the book . . . and some of the stories I didn't include or didn't know. We have laughed, we have cried . . . but mostly we have relived fun times.

Many didn't know about our first five years on Bluffview. That building is now the Atishwin Treatment Center, and many had no idea the school was there before Atishwin. They do now.

I have thought of many episodes that I left out that I wish I had thought of in time. One of the most significant would have been in the sports section, probably girls' basketball. For a number of years, we were soundly beaten nearly every game. It was easy to tell which teams were trying very hard to be sportsmanlike and which ones just loved to rub it in. At the end of one particular drubbing, I recall having a conversation with Jennifer Curfman. She commented that she hoped when our team started winning, "we will remember how it feels (to be drubbed) and be good sports." I wish I had put that in the book.

I guess I couldn't put everything in the book - it would have 1000 pages long. So I guess I will just continue to talk with people and relive the special times.