~~ == || < > || == “Alan, do you have a minute?” Alan Glassman looked up from the pile of essays he was grading. It was one of his two free periods at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, and he was surprised to see Lavender Tipton, the school’s principal, standing in the doorway of his classroom. “Sure, Mrs. Tipton. Come on in.” “Call me Lavender, please.” A tall, graceful woman in her early fifties, she leaned against a wall and studied Alan as he rose. “Tell me, have you been by the faculty lounge this morning?” Alan shook his head. “I’m trying to get ahead on my grading. I never imagined there would be so much gruntwork involved in being a teacher,” he said with a rueful smile. “I love doing the actual classwork, helping kids learn, but all this…” he waved his hand at the pile of papers on his desk. Lavender laughed, shaking her head.
