It was Thursday, I think. (The week has completely blended together as I write this over the weekend.) Snack time. So, we were all outside.
The school is very small. We're tucked into a back far corner. Our snack area is a patio that backs onto a lawn area. Beyond the lawn area, separated by a fence, are backyards to people's houses.
On this (likely) Thursday, a couple of the students had gone out to the lawn area and were kicking around a basketball.
Jonas was in soccer mode. (I don't think I've mentioned Jonas before. If I have, he probably has a completely different blog alias.) He went in for a hard kick, and the ball sailed upwards and over the fence into someone's backyard.
Ooof.
And the chickens kicked up a ruckus.
That particular house has chickens in the backyard. We hear them clucking on occasion. Not too often.
From where the ball likely landed (as I saw it sailing over the fence from where I was seated), it sounded as if it landed on top of the chickens.
The staff and I were concerned that a ball of that weight and velocity might have hurt one or more of those chickens.
Double ooof.
See, this sort of thing doesn't generally happen. I've been at this school for more than half the year, and this is the first time this has come up.
Most of the time, the students throw the basketballs into the hoop that's set up on the patio. Although, more often than not, they're focused on their devices. (While many have more of a kid mentality, they are all chronologically adults.)
There was nothing for it. Someone had to go to the house to apologize. Of course Jonas would go, but someone on staff would go with him. Keyla got roped into it.
We heard when they arrived, for they were in the backyard. Jonas is very soft spoken and hard to understand most of the time, but Keyla's voice was audible.
They returned basketball-less. Apparently, we had sent them to the wrong house. At least no chickens had been injured in the incident.
Except, the next day, the basketball was returned. From that house. Somehow, it had blended in with the backyard, and even though Keyla and the homeowner had gone out there, no one saw it.
I think the school is still on good terms with that neighbor. I hope. Jonas has been forbidden to play at being a soccer player any longer. Well, at least for now.
I always thought how hard it would be to live in one of the houses behind a school. If only for the recess noise! I remember classmates purposely bothering dogs on the other side of fences, which is probably a common thing. I don't think we had recess monitors like now. Most of us 60's kids were well behaved!
ReplyDeleteWe have an elementary school next door, and their playground is more insulated, that is, in between the classrooms. Our group is way less rowdy than elementary kids.
DeleteMost people don't try to kill chickens with a basketball...
ReplyDeleteWe would have been upset if it happened even inadvertently. Luckily, no birds were harmed last week.
DeleteMaybe it fell into a bush or something? I remember my mom once finding a newspaper in a bush weeks after she reported it missing to the deliverer.
ReplyDeleteIf a chicken is near me, I will throw more than a basketball.
ReplyDeleteThere was a neighbor over the fence by our school. Students started throwing debris into their pool. Did not go well.
Oh my. I can imagine. Our students don't do anything like that deliberately. I'm grateful.
DeleteWhen we moved to our village, schools were in neighborhoods. Now they are all located on one big campus on a hill, away from anyone close. One of those schools (my son's elementary school) was converted to senior housing and another to a Head Start location. I wonder if anyone misses them. It's nice, in a way, to see schools still in neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteAll of our schools are still in neighborhoods. I often wonder what it would be like to live across the street from a school. That was a dream of mine as a kid. I hated walking the block or two to school.
DeleteChickens can really kick up a ruckus on any given day but for sure when startled! Be glad they were not guineas! Talk about loud, they do a lot of talking...
ReplyDeleteThe chickens make a bit of noise on a normal day, too.
DeleteI'm glad the chickens were okay.
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteI’m glad you’re teaching them to be good neighbors. And I’m glad the chickens are ok
ReplyDeleteWe try to be good neighbors.
DeleteHe can continue to be a soccer player. He just needs to kick the ball in a different direction.
ReplyDeleteDue to the narrowness of the grass area, he'd either be kicking it in Domingo's direction or in the direction of the rest of the students. Not a lot of good choices there.
DeleteA very good reason not to live behind a school, lol.
ReplyDeleteThankfully no chickens were hurt but I wonder if they played a game or 2
ReplyDelete