Strategery

I am scheming.

Next fall, I want to take about a dozen of my students to New York. I already have the itinerary, I have activities lined up, I pretty much know which students will be going. They will take a semester-long electives class where they will learn Art History/Appreciation and also do some fundraising to get the money to go.

That's the dilemma I'm at right now. Most of these students come from disadvantaged families and have few resources.

That's where you all will come in. In a few months, I will be asking--begging, the Universe to find a way that all these students can go. One student in particular (let's call her Maria) moved to the States less than a year ago without a single word of English in her vernacular but has managed to maintain Valedictorian status at our school - the result of incredibly hard work and a brilliant mind. She's shy, always polite. She gives me 1/2 her orange in the mornings. She keeps the sticky note messages I write her and puts them on her binder. But I also know she's incredibly poor. Her family wouldn't be able to give much money toward her trip. So we need to find the money somewhere else.

I'm not asking for any money now, but I want you to think about how amazing a trip to the Met or the Museum of Natural History or a tour of NBC or a few hours on Ellis Island would be for her.

Joey Lawrence

Poor Joey Lawrence.

His driver's side door doesn't unlock with a key so I have to climb over the passenger's side to unlock it.
Automatic seatbelt isn't automatic anymore, must buckle both seat and shoulder.
Glovebox door falls off its hinges.
Gaping holes in dash where buttons should be.
Must crawl through back seat, pull seat down, climb halfway into trunk to pull a cord in order to pop the trunk.
Seats don't move.
Rear defroster doesn't work.
Only one light on dash; can only see how fast I'm going until 60mph when it's dark.
Hubcaps missing.
Visor falls down if you try to use it.
Gas gauge is 5 mi/hr off.

...but, as James puts it, "It's all paid for."

You know you're a nerd when you're excited about the fantastic deal you just found on a really great specimen of petrified wood.