Ancient History (South Rock High, #1)

by A.J. Truman

He was the reason Britney Spears invented the word toxic. He was the reason why people willingly cried along to Adele songs.

One of the many things I loved about history was that it was one long story. The present was confusing and made no sense. Only when we looked back did we see the narrative logic of our lives.

Shock, anger, disgust, (and joy?) twisted in me. The entire cast of Inside Out was having a field day in my head.

There was inherent loneliness in being gay. You had to face the world by yourself and slowly find allies.

😢🥺

Hutch Hawkins broke my heart once. I wasn’t going to let him do it again.

“I’m teaching gym and coaching. I’m technically a substitute teacher for the rest of the year.”

People who teach it never call it gym! “Gym is the room, PE is the class.”

Also, with his flowing hair, eight pack, and carpentry skills, Jesus would totally be a catch in the gay community, like an HGTV renovation show host.

“There are teachers at South Rock who think that sports are evil and anyone who likes sports is an idiot. I won’t name names, but stay away from the drama classroom.”

Foreshadowing a future book?!

I believe athletics teaches kids self-confidence, discipline, and the value of betting on yourself.

“That’s what I love about coaching. It’s like we have special powers to see the potential of every player, but they can’t see it yet, and it’s our job to bring it out.”

“Are you going to get your certification in physical education?” “What certification?” “You haven’t looked into getting certified to teach? Right now, you can substitute teach with a Bachelor’s Degree. But you need to take the certification exam to be a full-time teacher on staff and get all the benefits. Then you have 5 years to get your Master’s degree once you’re hired.”

This varies from state to state but it seems any old Bachelor’s degree wouldn’t do it. Some education classes would need to be in there some where to get certified. Most state have a provisional and then permanent certification. Also, most states have a way for non-certified people to be hired as teachers with all the benefits not just as subs.

After what happened with Amos, I couldn’t bring myself to risk hurting another person. And I couldn’t risk hurting myself. I might’ve been the one who mucked things up with Amos, but my heart broke, too. I put on a smile at prom for all to see, but when I got home, I sobbed on my bed until the sun came up the next morning. I didn’t know it was possible to miss somebody this hard, like every cell in my body ached.

“Don’t you have school tomorrow?” “I have work, Pop. I work at school.”

“Ugh, so did you hear that the football team is getting brand-new training equipment for the fall? Meanwhile, the sets for the spring play are a step above crayons on cardboard. Raleigh must be thrilled.” Everett rolled his eyes as he drank. At South Rock High, sports ruled and the drama department drooled, except they couldn’t afford a towel to wipe their mouths with. It wouldn’t be a Friday night without an anti-sports tirade from Everett, whose wrath always centered on Raleigh.

Yup, looks like foreshadowing…

flanked by students who were probably shooting the shit over the soccer victories. After a lackluster football season in the fall, South Rock needed this boost.

Soccer is a Fall sport in most places. Also at the high school level they are called boys and girls teams, not men’s and women’s in most interscholastic organizations I’m familiar with. Not to say there aren’t places scholastic teams may use men and women in their titles. But general those terms are reserved for college and above since most scholastic athletes are minors. And since the book has made reference to the Hudson River I’m going to assume it’s taking place in NY, where I live and taught for 34 years so it’s definitely in the Fall and we use the terms boys and girls.

A lack of taking history seriously was why we had Holocaust deniers and anti-vaxxers.

“Amos, I know I broke your heart before, but if you give me one more chance, I’ll never break it again.”

The crisis moment is going to be about Tommy I bet.

“Unfortunately, one of your players is unable to stay on the team and he’s restricted from playing in upcoming games.”

Called it.

This could be our chance to be the top-ranked school in the district and make it to the regional playoffs.”

Incorrect terminology. And this isn’t hard information to find. The lack of research is annoying. They could be the top team in the conference, which could then lead to them winning sectionals and being the top team in the section. That would lead to Regionals where winning could lead to States.

However, I have a firm stance on this. I won’t let athletics trump academics. Students need to know that their schoolwork is a priority.”

It wouldn’t be his stance. There would have to be a school ineligibility policy so that things were applied fairly.

“The student can request a hearing, but he’ll need a good reason to explain why he’s failing. I know this is a surprise, but…it’s school policy.”

Ok, so they do have a school policy.

“He wasn’t doing the work, so I had no choice. I didn’t know about this rule.”

Ok, that’s just stupid. He’s been there four years. Every teacher knows about ineligibility.

“Yo, do you think a plague like that could ever sweep through the world again?” Dale asked. “With all of our medical advancements and vaccines, I strongly doubt it.”

Well, you’d be wrong there.