The Mutiny

Luke* sat in the far right corner of my 8th grade science class. He was a good student and, for the most part, seemed to enjoy science, but he was a power-hungry monster. 

He was one of those people who had a lot of social clout. People liked him, they liked being around him, they listened too and followed him. Luke was never in danger of eating alone at lunch time, his table was always full. If he suggested the kids play soccer instead of football at recess, they played soccer. If he’d suggested they do yoga, the 8th grade would have done yoga at recess. He was popular and had natural leadership ability. 

I only wish he had used that power for good.

As I recall, he was never one to participate in current events until he made a startling realization - an epiphany really.

Through skillful planning he attempted a mutiny in my class. He hatched his devious plot and rallied his troops. 

“Make sure you bring a current event to science this week,” I overheard him say. This struck me as odd coming from a scholar who never seemed to care much about current events. 

He had realized, the more kids who participated in current events, the less time we had to work on our learning targets. It was a brilliant insight.

But, I had him figured out. I too had a loyal following. Several students had come to me privately to tell me what Luke was up too.

I saw him at breakfast on Friday, handing out articles to his classmates. I knew for sure what mischief was afoot. He had put is sinister plan into action, but forewarned is forearmed.

On that fateful Friday, after the kids filed into my room and took their seats, many with science articles in hand, I announced; “Because we have so much to do today, we will do current events on Monday. Please save your articles for then”

His conspiracy totally collapsed. 

The following Monday, we did current events but he could not rally his charges a second time. Being eighth graders, a third of the kids lost the articles, and many of the rest chose not side with this science subversive.

For the next few weeks, every time Luke turned in a paper, I neatly crossed out his name and wrote in Jake Sparrow.

*The names have been changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty as well).