A Child's Haven - 49. Chapter 49

Leaving Mrs. Chester to the organizing of the school, I went to check out 3B. I moved two more boys who were 16 to this floor. As I walked into the lounge area, I saw Andy. “How are the new boys adjusting?”

“They’re fine; Jeff and Adam have taken them under their wing.”

“Good, how is school coming along for you?”

“Good, I finished my second year and started to work on my third year. Being here, I’m able to accelerate my education by taking summer classes. At this rate, I’ll finish my Bachelor’s degree in a year and a half.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“At this stage, I’m not sure. I want to go and get my doctor’s degree, but I also want to get some practical experience along the way. Right now, I’m concentrating on working on my Bachelor’s degree. I’m sure I’ll have a plan worked out before graduation.”

“Good, if you need any help, let me know.”

3C was complete, and I had my room set up to my liking. I slept in the bed last night, and it was very comfortable. Mario opted to take a room and stay here rather than sleep at home. He said this was better because he could get a little longer to sleep. Tony hasn’t entirely made up his mind to move here, although he has room for late night meetings. Aaron has also opted to have a room so he could be on call. I have one room designated for anyone who would have to be confined to a bed. I still had several rooms empty.

As I entered the dining hall, Bubba led me to a seat. I knew something was up. He sat on my lap, “Dad, when are we going to the zoo?” I think Bubba has become the voice of the kids.

“I was going to wait until Patrick was well enough to come with us. But if the kids want to go and leave him here, we could go Wednesday.”

Guilt trip No 1, I remember my dad using that on me. But if I agreed to do the option, he never said no. We did the option. Let’s see what happens.

Bubba got off my lap, and I got up to get a coffee. When I headed back, I saw Bubba talking to some of the kids. Shortly Bubba came back and sat beside me. “We’ve decided to wait for Patrick.”

“I knew that was going to be your decision. You kids are amazing. Just so you know, if you all had chosen to go now, we’d go. But I’m glad that you all have chosen to wait until Patrick is ready.”

A couple of kids came over and asked about when school was going to start. I told them soon, and we were waiting for the placement tests. I had to explain what a placement test was and why it was necessary. As I was talking, I noticed the crowd was getting larger. Many of the kids were sitting on the floor and listening. One of the kids asked if the school was all day. I told them it would be for 4 hours each day, including Saturday. Some of the kids didn’t take to school on Saturday, but I knew once we got the school up and running, they would adjust.

For the next two days, I took it easy. Tony and Mrs. Chester got together and enrolled the teachers, ordered the books, and the tests arrived. The following Monday, the kids were told to report to the school at 9 am. Mrs. Chester and the teachers had come to the dining hall during breakfast and explained about the school and the placement tests. She had taken Beth’s age roster and assigned school rooms based on age. After breakfast, she took her roster and told each child their room. As the kids heard their room number, they left the dining hall. The teachers went with the first group and were ready for the following groups as they arrived on 3A.

Tony had arranged for the zoo to be closed for repairs and cleaning the day after the placement tests were completed. Aaron said Patrick could come with us in a wheelchair. Officers Murray and O’Shea would come with us as well as five volunteers from the police department. The word about the trip to see Lion King had generated some interest at the police station. The officer I had given the tickets for his neighbor kids volunteered, and I told him to bring his kids along.

The tests took three days to finish. We held the time in the school to 4 hours. This gave the teachers a chance to grade the tests each day in the afternoon. We agreed that school would open on the following Monday.

The trip to the zoo was fantastic. I had the older boys take a lot of pictures. I was going to post them on the wall in the dining hall. Tony had arranged to have our group be given a tour by the people who worked at the zoo. Even the adults enjoyed the tour. Going behind the displays was something one would typically not do or have the opportunity to do. We even saw the nursery; Pat said one of the monkeys looked like Bubba. He laughed, but I knew he’ll get even. We had lunch at the zoo cafeteria. We finished the tour by going to see the monkeys. You could guess what the kids did. They ended up having a name for each monkey, and you can guess where the names came from. I gave them handfuls of peanuts to toss into the monkey garden. I was impressed with the care and the creation of natural habitats for the animals. On the way out, I bought the kids a souvenir. I laughed as the kids went through the shop; I don’t know how many monkeys, bears, and lions I bought. But the smiles on the kid’s faces were worth it. I noticed that the kids the policeman had brought weren’t picking out any souvenirs. I pulled the boy aside, “You know that it isn’t right for you not to pick out a souvenir. You’re my guest, and if a host offers something to his guest, it’s only polite to take it. What animal did you like the best?”

“I liked the elephant.”

Tony heard the boy and went and got an elephant.

I asked the girl which animal she liked, “The polar bears.”

The gift shop had a polar bear with its cub, Tony held it up, and I nodded my head.

I think that the zoo made more money by closing than they would if they stayed open. When we got back to Sanctuary, I invited everyone to stay for dinner. The kids took their souvenirs to their cocoons. Pat asked the two children if they would like to see where they slept. I watched as they walked up the stairs to 2A.

Mrs. Chester and her teachers had left. Mario said he made a snack for them, and Adam gave them a tour of the building. “I think you might have a teacher staying in 3C.”

Mario was quite creative; we had buffalo roasts, camel potatoes, and monkey tails. It was roast beef, potatoes cut to resemble the humps on the camels, and the monkey tails were roasted carrots cut in the shape of a curly tail. Dessert was tiger cake served with mountain ice. Mario had stripped the cake with yellow coloring to represent the stripes on a tiger.

After dinner, the two kids thanked me for taking them to the zoo and buying them a souvenir. The officer came and thanked me for inviting them. “They’re good kids, you’re doing a good thing by taking care of them.”

That evening, I review with Tony the teacher’s contracts and the salaries. “Tony, at the next Board meeting, I’ve asked Mrs. Chester to make a presentation. I’d like you to establish a financial report that we can use as a basis for Board presentation. I don’t think it’d be necessary to go into details like each teacher’s salary, but you could group them all together.”

“I know what you want. I’ll run it past you before the Board meeting.”

“Are you going to announce that you have decided to come and work for me as my partner?”

He hit me on the arm as he left. I’ll get him to sign on sooner or later.