In my many years in education, it never ceases to amaze me what each new school day holds…today is just another example of this. As a former leadership professor of mine would often note: “Someone needs to write a book about all the things we don’t teach you here in class; there is nothing to prepare you for what may come your way each day.” He was right, of course.
A skunk decided to make his/her presence known on campus this morning. Unfortunately for this skunk, a repeat performance will never occur. Animal Control answered the call and eliminated the skunk. As skunks do, though, the skunk had the last word by releasing a tremendous blast of “stink” (as one learner put it) into the air. Our HVAC system picked up the scent and shared it throughout our campus today . . . WHEW . . . what a stinky situation to endure all day! I know I have a headache and feel fairly certain several others do as well. Thankfully, a light breeze was blowing and helping to clear the air in and around our building this afternoon, but it may be a couple of days before the “stink” completely leaves us.
Yes, amazing things happen at LaRue Miller Elementary everyday…some more SCENTsational than others!
Note: I want to thank the kind soul who left a large can of Glade and a funny note on my desk this afternoon when I went outside for dismissal duty. I know who you are and you know what they say about paybacks . . . . 🙂
Van Am Gram 
Your note from yesterday was read at our dinner table last night. We had a great laugh about the whole situation and as a family decided we had many comments and questions for you regarding this situation. So many of them would be inappropriate to share on this forum, but I will let you know that a video of the event would have pleased most of my family and resolved many of the questions.
We decided that our La Rue Miller student had the best, defined as most unusual and amazing, day at school yesterday. Our oldest was subjected for most of yesterday to the ghastly fragrance that still remains from the fire at Magnablend , but it was decided that odors alone did not make the day unique.
I read a short article this week about how smells affect our ability to guage the passage of time. It seems, from the results of the study, that coffee makes us think time has passed more quickly, while the smell of baby powder makes time slow down for us. I cannot help wonder how the skunk smell affected your ability to measure time. I am certain that odor was not incorporated in the study!
Being a part of the family dinner discussion most likely would have gleaned some valuable information on everyone’s part and perhaps provided additional humor in the process (I can be, at times, quite animated when relaying a sequence of events). 🙂 I have much to say on our stinky subject, however, this blog is probably not the appropriate place either . . . 🙂 Thanks for sharing the fascinating information about odors; there should be a dissertation in there for some writing soul who seeks to study the long-term effects in an elementary school setting–again, LOTS more to share on this subject! See you soon!