An Alienating Secret

Crazy Science

--Anith--

Thank God that I came to school today. My eyes were feasting on Miss Hatchel's room! Big bubbling volcano across the door, floating planets from the ceiling, a 3D skeleton with sick shades and a pink wig standing beside the teacher's desk. It was all I could wish for! Not to mention a table against the left wall packed with different empty vials. Looking at those, I assumed Miss Hatchel would lead us in experiments the school board wasn't supposed to know about.

As for the seating arrangement, it was different than any class I'd ever had. The seats were positioned in a wide circle, each chair facing the center of the class. Name cards were taped to the back of every seat. I found mine and sat in it. Conner was to my right and Maria Valadez to my left. Maria and I had known each other since 2nd grade, and, though we were good friends, I knew Miss Hatchel wouldn't need to worry about us talking in class. I couldn't guarantee that for every set of students sitting right next to each other.

I looked around. Where was Miss Hatchel? The school bell rang, and still no sign of her. Then a couple seconds later- bang!- the front door to the classroom was thrown open. The door hit and tore a thick string on a wall, releasing a big poster and letting it roll down from its rack on the ceiling. "Welcome to Physical Science!!!" was written on the poster in bright yellow, contrasting the cool blues of the background. And these words were yelled excitedly by Miss Hatchel as she jumped into the room.

I smiled brightly at my teacher. I took it all back; school was interesting! Miss Hatchel looked around 27, with curly brown hair and cat-eyed glasses. She wore a green coat over a white button-up shirt. Her jeans were black and not ripped, but I figured she would wear ripped jeans off the job.

Miss Hatchel walked in the midst of the circle, "Hello, everyone. I'm Miss Hatchel. And I'm glad I see a lot of bright faces and a lot of smiles. But, you know how it is. How those smiles dwindle during the course of the year..." She made eye contact with me and some other students. "It's like science is fun for the first week of school and then it gets boring. Now why do you think that is?"

Some students raised their hands. I was one of them.

"Jeremiah." We all turned our attention to him.

He started, "Well, the most exciting thing now is the decorations and your poster trick. The book isn't that interesting, at least for a lot of us."

Miss Hatchel nodded. "Anith, you look like you have something to add."

I smiled and explained eagerly, "I love science because there are so many unknowns. So many things to figure out. But it's like we're spoon-fed what other people did and that's it. We don't really get to think for ourselves outside of the labs, and those don't happen too often."

"Wow, you were thinking about this for a while. Thanks for your answers, you two." Miss Hatchel continued to address the class in a louder voice, "I had the same experience in school too. The book was boring; I didn't get to wonder and think out-loud in class. That's why I want to change things up for you all this year."

I was surprised. "Change it up how?" I didn't raise my hand before the question slipped out of my mouth. Miss Hatchel didn't seem to mind.

"For me, science is about taking info from our world and putting it to use for human benefit. We all have dreams about what science can accomplish. Different inventions that just excite us, even things we feel no one else would even consider."

Chris raised his hand immediately. Miss Hatchel gestured to him. "Miss Hatchel, what do you mean 'that no one else would even consider'? We don't all have gizmo ideas. Especially unique ones."