After last week's debacle, I told Donna my new last name was NeverAgain in terms of Movie Night. She agreed, and we both, being teachers, started working on ways to learn from the disaster and make it possible to host community gatherings that didn't end in cursing. A flurry of emails went out, asking why the same few people have to volunteer for everything with no help from the rest of staff, concisely worded suggestions of how to re-boot events, and blatant please for specific help doing specific tasks. These were responded to with angry words by some, the overt silent treatment by one who literally told me to my face she wasn't speaking to me, and the stepping up by many who said they never helped because they never knew there was such a need.
One major change that happened was a change in venue. Rather than show the movie on the wall of the large Commons area, this week's movie went up into the unused band room, an acoustically sound room nestled between the stage of the Commons and the stage of the gym. Another fix involved the movie itself, Jurassic World. A PG-13 movie required a signed permission slip for anyone in grades 6 and 7, and anyone 5th and younger had to not only bring their parent or guardian, that person had to stay with the student all night. No more drop and go.
To keep the numbers up, the gym stayed open past the end of the volleyball tournament (yes, before Movie Night even started there was a middle school volleyball tournament that started at 6:30) for anyone who wanted to come in and run around for the same $5 the movie goers had to pay. At the height, I heard that there were upwards of fifty people running around of all ages. It really had turned into a Community Gathering.
I was assigned a job that could have been awful or great. I was to chaperone inside the band room; making sure no one got rowdy, that kids attending with their parent stayed with their parent and vise versa, and that no electronics were used. It turned out to be a piece of cake. For the most part, everyone understood that this was not a free for all, when anyone tried to move chairs around a short "Put it back, the chairs stay where they are" was enough, though one middle school girl nearly got charged twice when it looked like she was going to refuse to take her feet off a chair. The only "trouble" all night, was the fact that this movie, like last week's was too long by about a half an hour (and why did Richie Cunningham's daughter's clothes get more skimpy and grimy as the movie went on until she looked like the ad for that Raquel Welch caveman movie from the 70s while Chris Pratt just looked slightly damp?)
I did have two middle school boys who decided it would be fun to poke the girls sitting in front of them. At least it was fun until I PBISed them by standing a few inches from their chairs on the aisle and faced them. They clearly thought I would go away after a minute or two of good behavior but I stayed there for almost twenty minutes, not moving, not looking away until one finally broke and went off mumbling something about getting a drink. His friend lasted thirty seconds before bolting after him. When they came back, they sat in the few empty seats in the front and were perfect angels after that.
At the end of the night, the seven student government members cleaned up the band room, put away all the chairs while we on staff congratulated ourselves on solving a problem. I didn't hear the final take but fifty in the gym and fifty in the band room makes for about five hundred bucks before concessions. That, added to the take from the volleyball tournament of around 100 people at $2.50 each should add up nicely. Too bad I was just there as a volunteer and not a recipient.
The only grumbling I heard was when, at literally the last minute, the AP suggested we cancel Movie Night because everyone was too tired after the volleyball games. This very thing was suggested to him last week but he turned it down. I guess the reality of how much effort goes into these events finally sank in. I expect we will have a lively discussion about this next week too, but at least it's coming off a win.
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