Congratulations to all those Graduates Out There

I have to admit to freaking out the neighbor boy the other day when I asked him how many more days of school he had. He replied, "two weeks." This was at the end of May. I stunned him with the tale of the dark days of my youth when we went to school until the end of June! His mother made him feel even worse with tales of year round school!

To celebrate the season of high school graduations, here are a few stories that showed up on the Brave Astronaut radar over the past few weeks.

1. Perfect Attendance - Really? This story from the Washington Post about a local high schooler and this AP story from June 1 about a student from Indiana that are graduating from their respective high schools with perfect attendance records. That is never having missed a day of school from Kindergarten through 12th Grade. I say again, really? My mother and the school nurses exchanged Christmas cards as a result of the time I spent in the nurse's office. I was constantly home - how else was I to get my Price is Right fix? Sure, there may have been some days that I could have gone to school, but my mother didn't push the issue. God bless her.
2. Dodging Gym - dodgeball anyone? While that "game of chance" is certainly passe in schools, evidently completing the rope climb is not. Unless you live in Little Falls, New York. There you can choose your gym experience in the form of Dance Dance Revolution. Really? What's next Wii? Get out there are dodge some balls, you big wienies! Then again, I did fulfill a phys ed requirement in college by bowling. And my sister got her requirement by taking "circus arts."
3. Local Flavor and Mandatory Archival Content Alert! - An elementary school in my hometown is in trouble with its former students. In 1981, students at Berry Hill Elementary School buried a time capsule on the school grounds. The site was later paved over for a parking lot. The time capsule is nowhere to be found. And the students are wondering what is up (or is it down)?