Blown Away

The school day ceased being normal the second I pulled into the school’s driveway. Our principal was standing there like a traffic cop, directing me to park in a grassy area far from the school. I noticed a sheriff’s car parked near the front door. My mind raced to the conclusion we had been vandalized the night before.
Yet, I learned when our principal went to retrieve the mail he was confronted by a possible bomb! Flashback of news scenes from around the country in recent years activated my imagination. The deputy confirmed the package and its markings were consistent with explosives. The sheriff called for the State Police Bomb Squad and our principal contacted the superintendent. We organized ourselves to collect the students when they arrived, and funneled them toward the football field bleachers. Attendance was taken and explanations made, a few went home. The long wait turned into nearly two hours before the appropriate explosive experts arrived.
The suspicious package confused the experts. Wrapped in brown shipping paper it could be anything. The troubling factor was the electronic device with a mercury switch taped to the outside. The professionals determined it was safest to detonate the bomb inside the mailbox and not risk moving it. With all the safety measures in place a long pole with a shotgun shell on its tip was eased into the mailbox and fired. From a safe distance five hundred teachers and students watched as plastic and paper and lots of smoke filled the air.
Within minutes our principal and a state policeman started our way. We figured they would explain, we’d be allowed to go inside, and start school or sent home. The two walked through the assembly directly to me! I was really scared wondering what I could possibly have to do with such a sinister act.
They explained I may have been the target of the bomb and they wanted me to look at the evidence. They walked me to the area where the mailbox used to be and my eyes took in the destruction and scattered debris. From the littered scraps of paper they pointed out one with my name on it! As soon as I looked at it, recognizing my own writing, I knew what had happened. This wasn’t retribution from a disgruntled staff member or a vengeful student, but the innocent act of a naive student teacher.
I had supervised Rex as a student teacher that semester and he’d just completed his classroom experience. Before leaving the state, and returning home, he wanted to drop off several books, my unit lessons, and a gift. Rex did not have a school key and without other options he wrapped everything up, wrote my name on the outside, and slid it into the school’s mailbox over the weekend. At the last minute he must have wanted to leave me and a gift that he thoughtfully taped to the package. You see, Rex had been teaching about the physics of heat and he wanted the kids to see a real thermostat, ( with a mercury switch to activate the furnace ) so he bought me one.
I never told Rex what happened the Monday after he left our school. I have never forgotten though. Ten years worth of lesson planning with activities, homework, quizzes, and the unit test were all gone! It seems Rex “wrapped up” his student teaching experience with a “bang.”