Blessing in Disguise

Because I don't have the student body presidency to worry about (ironically that was the job I wanted since I got to Adams) I could devote my attention solely to the newspaper and yearbook. And with that in mind, I got some news that shocked me. I, Haley Elizabeth Hotchkiss, was named editor-in-chief of both newspaper and yearbook, succeeding Megan Ryder, who moved to Stamford, Connecticut, this year. Mrs. Baldwin even gave me a fancy title -- director of student publications. This means that anything that's printed in any student journal has to go through me. I kinda like this idea. I've got big shoes to fill but I think I'm prepared.

With this in mind, I started decorating my desk. At the right is the "Follow Your Dreams" book Wendy gave me in California, that I read sometimes and sometimes I use as a mousepad. There's a crocheted charm Marina gave me in New Hampshire and Kirsten and Mrs. Linda gave me a teddy bear. On top of the computer is the peace charm Alexi gave me in DC.

My first order of business as "director of student publications" was to meet with my staff. Isabelle Yarbrough was first. She's a new arrival, from Dallas, Texas, and she's the photographer. She has blond wavy hair (that she usually keeps in a braid), brown eyes, and darker freckles than mine. Lindsey says she's seldom without a camera around her neck.
"Hi," she said with her Texas twang, extending her hand out. "You must be Haley."
We talked about darkrooms and digital cameras for a bit and then we went to the yearbook. "We need to start getting club photos. Club photos, team photos, pictures of kids doing stuff."
Isabelle nodded.
I wanted to give them a glimpse of what I expect. I'm a perfectionist and I intend to run a pretty tight ship, now that my attentions aren't divided between student gov't and student printing.

Next I spoke with Lindsey and Kate. Kate's taking over sports for Alison McCann (who decided to focus on playing sports instead of writing about them) and is the assistant newspaper editor. Lindsey's in charge of graphics and artwork. Not necessarily drawing but making sure the paper 'looks' good. Kate taking over sports is actually a good fit -- she's crazy about baseball, especially her hometown Cincinnati Reds, and knows a whole lot of baseball trivia.

Last I met with Katarina Engel. Kat's actually really shy, doesn't say much, but boy, can she write. She's been the researcher because every time I see her her nose is buried in a book. I told her I wanted her to take a more active reporting role, and she made a suggestion I hadn't even considered. "Let's do a literary magazine," she said, "you know, for short stories and poetry and stuff." I would have to bring that to Mrs. Baldwin but I actually think it's a good idea.

Lulu

I'm 10000 percent conviced that Meredith Hopkins is evil.

I'm even more covinced that Meredith Hopkins cannot be student body president, at all costs.

It started after school today, when the new girl, Laney Holland, complained that Lulu, the pet bunny she'd brought to honors science class, was missing. I don't take honors science, I don't take honors anything. Since I don't like seeing animals ill treated -- hey I once stopped a pet parade at my old school -- Kate and I volunteered to help her look for Lulu.

"Lulu!" we called in rounds. "Looo-loooo! Where are yoooooo?"

It took us nearly an hour but we found Lulu -- thrown in the dumpster. Who would throw a bunny in the garbage can??? I know Meredith and her lackeys were behind this.

Meanwhile, we took Lulu back to the lab and cleaned her up. She's sooo cute!

I will say this though. THIS MEANS WAR. Kate and I are getting ready to fight.

Say "Cheese"

Yep, it's that time of year. It's school picture week here at Adams Middle School. The gym turned into a miniature portrait studio.

I don't like picture day that much. And it doesn't help that the photographer puts the camera so close to your face.

Hey Haley, if you're reading this, I wanna show you some of what got turned in for the yearbook. You might get a few chuckles out of these.

Eeeek! It's a ghost! Oh wait, no it's not. It's only Night-Meredith Hopkins, who so far is leading in the polls to become the next student body president. Not if I can help it.

Kylee Phillips, the bane of my existence. Geez Louise what a scary shot! And on top of that, she's running for president of my class.

Kylee's second-in-command, Vickie Vaccaro. Vicks just basically does what Kylee tells her to do.

My BFF, Kathryn "Kit" Kittredge. She's running against Kylee Phillips for class president. She came up short last year but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get her over the hump this time.

Hey Haley, it's that girl you were telling me about, Natalie Spencer. Do you know she's playing volleyball this year? Natty, sweetie, didja think u were modeling?

Harriet, I love ya, gurl, but this is one scary yearbook picture.

My newest friend, Jess McConnell. She spent two years traveling in Belize and Egypt and tells me all kinds of really cool stories.

And the scariest shot of all....

BOO!

Sleepovers and Storms

Well, school starts today. Wish me luck.

Here are 2 pics from Haley's last host in RI, a lady and her 7 year old daughter.

She says this one was at a sleepover. Mmmm sweets.

A beach shot. Nice. Haley, where's your swimsuit???

Oh, speaking of sleepovers I had one myself on Saturday night. It was storming outside, and my BFF Kathryn and I planned one on the spot. We invited Harriet, and not only did she show up, but she came with Haley's cousin, Nicky.

We spent all night telling scary ghost stories while the lights flicked on and off. Poor Harriet was all tuckered out, she slept in her clothes!

Halloween

So, it was chilly out yesterday, and Kit and I were walking home from the student council meeting. Kit's family bought a house right down the street from me, which is cool. She didn't win her class presidency election (that Kylee Phillips did) but she did become a homeroom rep. Then she asked a question. "Haley, what are you gonna do for Halloween?"

Halloween. Right. Three days away.

I shook my head. I've still got no clue.

My family was never that big on the holiday. Especially mom. She used to call the holiday 'silly' and I think I only went trick-or-treating once, and that was right after mom and dad split up. Dad let me trick-or-treat and eat pretty much all the candy I wanted. Never mind that I was throwing up the next morning cause I was allergic to half of what I ate. So Halloween was never really a big deal for us Hotchkisses.

On top of all that, we've got to throw SOMETHING together for the Halloween dance. Amanda Peters, 8th grader and student body president, wants to do a Thriller-themed haunted house deal, in honor of the death of Michael Jackson over the summer. I do not know how we're gonna pull this off.

Back to School Assembly, news on Hil, and a talk with Kit

Principal Ballard only decided TODAY to have his huge back-to-school assembly, going over the rules we've heard about 60 billion times, going over schedules, class assignments, activities, and making introductions. He trotted out Antoinette as the school's first-ever foreign exchange student. What I found out was, one of the eighth graders is at Antoinette's school in France for a semester, the same time as she's here. So I'm wondering if such a program would be available by the time I got to eighth grade, and would I be interested.

Hilary returned today, but she says she's only here for a couple weeks until her paperwork is finalized. She'll be living in California with her dad for the time being, as her parents have joint custody. She really is having a tough time dealing with the divorce. I remember when my parents split up, it was hard at first, but like I told Hilary, it does eventually get easier.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the office helping Kit with her article for the back-to-school issue. I also directed her to Maura's blog post about becoming Ruthie Smithens, her great-grandmother's best friend in 1934. "Can you time-travel like her?" I asked.

"Lindsey pretended to be Ruthie once when we were in my dad's attic playing," Kit told me. "Time-travel isn't that hard. You just put on a costume and bam, you're in a different place and time. I love it." Then she asked, "You know who my great-grandma was, right?"

"How could I forget?" I replied. "There was a movie and 6 books about her, I want to read them but I haven't had the time. She sounds like she was amazing." Then I asked her what she was writing about.

"The ways school is alike and different in my great-grandma's time and now."

"Sounds like it's gonna be real interesting," I said.

"You'd be surprised," she said, "not much has changed in 75 years. We have computers and stuff now, but a lot of things are exactly the same."

"There weren't French exchange students in her day, were there?"

Kit laughed. "Heck no," she replied, "but there were wanderers called hoboes..." She began telling me this story she knew (that was in the book & movie) about her great-grandma's hobo friend named Will.

"So, that's kind of like what's going on with Antoinette now," I wondered.

"You might wanna cut her some slack. She is in a different country, away from her family and her friends."

I had to admit I never thought of it that way. Count on your friends to show you things you never realized.

Seventh Grade!!!

Welp, started school this week, and hadn't had a moment to start recording everything. Until now.

Most of the usual suspects are back in action for another year, but a couple people still aren't back yet from whatever they were doing this summer, and I'm kinda worried. Kristy hasn't returned, neither has Hilary. I'm kinda bummed about it, actually. On the other hand, there are a whole lot of new faces around here.

Kit and Lindsey were telling me about some of their new classmates. "There are these three girls," they told me, "that you gotta stay away from at all costs."

Uh-oh. Are they the sixth-grade version of Meredith's crew?

I got a look at these girls. They sure did look like meanies. From left to right, they're Victoria Vaccaro (the dark haired one), Kylee Phillips (the blond), and Zoe Fishers (the brunette). Kit and Lindsey say Kylee is the definite queen bee of the group and has treated them like crap since kindergarten.

Speaking of Kylee, I'm actually stuck with her -- for the foreseeable future. That's because my student council sponsor matched us up for the seventh grade-sixth grade buddy program that I started last year. She reminds me of Meredith except, in my opinion she's actually even prettier. I was kinda hoping I'd get either Kit or Lindsey as I already knew them from Girl Scouts. Harriet's partner is Jess McConnell (I'm jealous as Jess seems far more interesting). I don't know who Hilary or Kristy have. Kit likes her partner as hers is into sports and they can talk baseball all day and all night. Lindsey's partner is Sasha Moore, one of Meredith's pals. I asked my teacher what made her make the matches she did, and she said they were totally random. I bet.

My classes -- I've only got one class with Harriet and three with Hilary. Hil and I have honors classes, plus French and TAG (talented and gifted) enrichment. Megan Ryder is still editor of the newspaper, although the newspaper sponsor, Ms. Baldwin, named me assistant editor now, so I'm gonna be spending more time with that. This means Megan and I have the task of picking new staffers. Kit and Lindsey have already submitted their stories, and I hope I don't have to tell one or both of them that they didn't make the staff, especially since they talked about it before all this happened.

I got into Parkington. I tried on my uniform, even paid the dorm fee... but then realized I couldn't go there. I didn't really belong there. It wasn't for me, at least not right now.

Guest post: Kathryn "Kit" Kittredge speaks out!

Hi! I'm Kathryn Margaret Kittredge, better known to family and friends as Kit. I got the nickname because it was the nickname of my great-grandmother, the famous Margaret Mildred Kittredge who has been immortalized in books and even a movie. I also got the nickname because my father said I look like she did when she was my age.

I made 11 in May, and I'll be starting at Adams Junior High in 2 weeks. I can't wait, I'm actually excited.

Haven't done much this summer. I went to Ohio for 2 weeks to visit my family up there. I went to a few Reds games while I was up there, too, so that made me happy. I love baseball and I'm gonna try to get on the school softball team next spring.

The other thing I like is writing. As soon as I get to Adams I'm gonna try out for the newspaper staff. I've got the articles I've written already put together in a neat little folder to present to the editor. Haley says she's nice so I'm sure she'll like them. I figure if I'm gonna be a reporter when I grow up, then I'd better start now.

Speaking of Haley, I'm a little ticked at her for not writing as much as she'd promised. I'm sure she's busy but she could put five words on a postcard and tell us as much as hello or something.

Well, I gotta go. Catch everybody soon!

-- Kit

Bye for now!

To all my readers (except Wendy of course),

By the time you read this I will more than likely already be on a plane headed for sunny southern California. This came about suddenly and surprisingly. Thinking about becoming a traveling doll is one thing, actually doing it is quite another.

The other day after classes ended I walked into Vee's living room and found all my friends gathered together -- even Kit and Lindsey, who are fifth graders and I only really know from Girl Scouts. I was wondering what was going on. What happened was that they'd decided to surprise me with a goodbye party. Chips, drinks, dip, the Jonas Brothers playing in the background (that had to have been Hilary's idea) even pizza. The last time I ate pizza I broke out in hives.

It finally hit me that this would be the last time all of us would be together for the entire summer. We would all be scattered in all sorts of different directions. Hilary was going to be with her father and to try to keep her divorcing family together. Kristy was going to basketball camp and summer camp with her girls' home. Katarina was going to Germany. Kit was going to do her newspaper stuff and visit relatives in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Lindsey was going to finish her documentary, read the new Rebecca Rubin stories, and try to keep herself out of trouble. Nicki was going to volunteer at the local animal shelter and visit her grandmother. Harriet, I think she's just gonna try and hold it together until I come back.

I realized that each one of my friends is unique, different, and special in their own ways. Nicki's situation is a little different because we're actually family. But the standard still applies. Kristy (btw, she did make good on her promise to cut her hair, though not as much as I was afraid of) gave me a high-five, Hilary squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe, and Nicki let out these huge sobs.

I tried to spend a little extra time with each of my friends individually before going to the airport. I'm gonna try not to cry, I thought to myself. I'm not gonna cry...

That didn't work. I doled out hugs to everyone and then found myself in a big group hug. By the time I got to Harriet the waterworks was on. Before I knew it I was bawling like a baby. "I'll miss you so much," Harriet whispered in my ear. I whispered the same right back to her.

I've never had a best friend, so to feel this way is strange to me.

Some of them wanted to ride with me to the airport but I told them never mind, that I was good. In reality, I was going to cry again and I didn't want to take the risk.

Well, that's it everybody. Goodbye for now! And hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

Haley E. Hotchkiss

P. S. I may check in on here every once in awhile while I'm gone, but Harriet and some others will do the lions' share of the posting. See you soon!

Of 5th graders and plans gone awry

Today was the 5th graders' last day here, and I showed them the Chrissa movie and gave a talk on bullying. I wanted to be sure I looked nice, so I got out one of my plaid skirts and I borrowed a pair of tights from this girl Samantha that lives down my street.
When Megan, the editor of the newspaper, introduced me as "Haley Hotchkiss, sixth grade class president," I was met with applause.
"How many of you have been bullied?" I asked before pressing 'play' on the DVD player. I saw a few hands raise up, including Kit's and Lindsey's. "Be honest, how many of you have been bullied?" A few more hands came up.
"There are thousands of people who are bullied in school each year," I said. "There was a recent story on the news about a boy our age who killed himself because he couldn't deal with the bullying anymore. I know, because I'm one of them."
There were some people murmuring in the crowd but for the most part it was silent. "You may think it's harmless teasing but it really hurts. And you may not even realize you're doing it. The girl in the movie you're about to see, named Chrissa Maxwell, is also being bullied in school. See how it affects her and those around her, and what she does about the bullying."
When I told Megan to press play on the DVD player, I left the stage to applause. Kit and Lindsey waved at me to make sure I saw them.

Last night when I got home from yearbook, I found an email from the Parkington Academy up in the northern part of the state, saying they want to interview me. I told Vee about this and she said this likely meant they were pretty close to accepting me. This totally screws things up. I've wanted to go to boarding school since forever, but I'm at Adams now and, other than Meredith and the Mean Girls, I'm fairly happy. I've got friends and I'm in activities. I'm at a pretty good place in my life right now. I'm not sure I'm ready to give all that up. On the other hand, Parkington is a serious opportunity for me. It could be my ticket to a very good college like Harvard or Yale. I'm just not sure what to do, and I have less than three months to decide.

On a lighter note, I just caught a glimpse of the new cheerleading uniforms, the ones they're gonna be wearing next year, and I have to say they are hideous! I'll publish the pic as soon as I get one.

The 5th graders are coming! The 5th graders are coming! They're he-ere!

Today the 5th grade class from the local elementary school took their grand tour of Adams Junior High. This is different from the Open House, where parents (and some 5th graders) came here in dress clothes to find out what the school was about. Lindsey wasn't at Open House, but Kathryn (Kit) and Carissa were, so I saw all three of them today.

All the sixth grade class officers had groups of five or six they had to take around the school. I had a group, Meredith had a group, Megan had a group, Mia had a group, and another girl named Heather something-or-other had a group. And the groups were divided randomly. In my group was this girl that looked Asian, another girl with long brown hair, Carissa, Kit, and Lindsey.

Carissa mentioned her dad was also thinking about private school for her, so she didn't say much. Kit and Lindsey were there too. But I was most interested in the pretty Asian girl in the long pink and orange skirt.

She'd said her name was Jessica, Jess for short, and she'd come from spending a year in Belize with her parents who are archeologists. They'd both gotten jobs at the local university as professors, so it was goodbye Belize and hello school -- but what school? They were still trying to decide.

I introduced Kit and Lindsey to my friends. Harriet and Kristy knew them from Girl Scouts, but Hilary and Katarina had never met them. Lindsey said she was trying to talk Jess, who'd just moved here, into joining Girl Scouts. Kit said she was looking forward to joining the newspaper staff and becoming sixth grade class president. I'll say this -- if anyone's gonna be my successor as sixth grade class president, I'd rather it be someone who shares my ambition and desire to learn. Seems like Kit does.

I'm starting a buddy program, where a 5th grader will be paired off with one of us 6th graders to help with the change between elementary and junior high school. It's not my original idea, though. It's something I read on Wendy's blog that her school is doing, and so I'm gonna try it here. I kinda wish something like this was around when I started 6th grade and didn't know a soul. Unfortunately, even though I started the program I won't actually be doing the pairing. The student council sponsor will. And that means I could end up with anybody, even someone I don't like.

The 5th graders will be here till Friday, so I have to come up with 2 more days of activities for them. I'm considering showing them the Chrissa movie and giving a talk on bullying, since I finally finished that project I was doing. Not sure what else I'll do though. I do know some of the girls are staying after school for cheerleading tryouts (blech!).

The Blond Girl Shows Up Again

I thought about what Wendy and Sophie had posted under my "Mean Girls" post all night. I couldn't sleep, tossing and turning in my bed. And then I figured out why that was.
So the next day after school I had a little bit of a 'bull session' with my friends, and we've decided on a new tactic for dealing with the girls at school.
We decided to try to isolate Meredith by being nice to her followers, even though some of them are as mean as Meredith herself. We figured out that Meredith was probably the problem, and that she's probably bullying them too.
We wanted to try out our new tactic, but after school I had to go to the newspaper office, where I had a surprise waiting for me.

The blond girl showed up, again.

I was surprised when she did, because she's still in fifth grade and won't attend Adams till the fall. "I'm Kathryn Kittredge. Call me Kit," she said as she extended her hand.

Kit it was, and she was wearing glasses. When we walked to the newspaper offices, she was telling me she was originally from Ohio and was into baseball trivia, aviation history and newspaper journalism. She also said she was related to the Kit Kittredge immortalized in books and even a movie. "She was my great-great aunt," she told me, "my great-grandfather's younger sister."

"Oh, and I want to run for class president."

I didn't really know what to make of that statement. She seemed so sure of it, too. In contrast, I hadn't made up my mind to run until I was reading Felicity Merriman's books and I realized Meredith was running unopposed. Then it suddenly dawned on me that my tenure as sixth grade class president is soon to come to an end. I have some decisions to make. I know my position at the newspaper is probably secure. But if I were to return to Adams, would I run for seventh grade president? Should I? My head's still spinning. Even though summer's coming up, August will be here before I know it.

Open House

Open House at Adams Junior High was held last night, mostly in the school gym and auditorium. I looked around and suddenly I felt a bit overdressed. There were quite a few of the usual suspects, along with kids I'd never seen before. One girl with short blond hair said she wanted to join the newspaper staff when she got to Adams next fall -- and this other girl, Carissa Miller I think her name was, who was wearing the same dress I'd seen in the movie -- said she liked to paint, sew, and do pottery.

I was talking to the blond girl, I didn't quite catch her name, mostly about the newspaper and what kinds of stories they covered. She showed me some of the work she'd already done for her hometown paper in Ohio -- including an article she'd written about homeless kids -- and I told her I was sure our editor would love to have her join the staff when she entered next year. As sixth grade class president and a member of the newspaper staff, it was my job to try to 'sell' these activities to the incoming students.
Then I introduced her to Megan, the editor, and had them talk awhile, while I went ahead and spoke to Carissa about our art classes.
Carissa's father is Michael Miller, a local sculptor. Harriet says he's the one who sculpted the statue of former president John Adams outside our school's front entrance. I suppose that's where Carissa got her artistic side from.


Just then Meredith showed up. She was there as captain of the cheerleaders, recruiting new members. She was wearing an especially slinky pink dress. "Well, if the dork didn't decide to put on a dress. If you dress up a dork, guess what, it's still a dork."
"Shut up, Meredith," I said.
"What'd you just say?"
"I said shut up. Didn't you hear me?"
Meredith tossed her blond head in staged anger. "Are those -- heels -- you're wearing?" she asked, looking down at my feet.
"So, what if they are? They're my shoes and I can wear them anytime I want."
It felt good. They were things that needed to be said, and I'm glad I said them. By that time though I was holding my heels in my hand and walking with little slippers on. Meredith went off in a huff but I didn't care. Carissa asked me if she was always like that, and I nodded.
Lindsey from the basketball game was there, too. She has freckles and auburn hair. She mentioned she was Jewish and was getting ready for her brother's bar mitzvah (a sort of coming of age in the Jewish culture). She also said she was interested in the newspaper and the yearbook.
With the addition of at least two new staffers next year, the newspaper should be very interesting.