What a thrilling ride Dons Derby Days were! But so glad they are over. I gathered eight to 10 volunteers for each of the eight, two hour shifts, and off we went. The three days of DDD are the days when SBHS students do three things: Flash their “Golden ticket” to show they have proven their place of residency and turned in their emergency card, get their pictures taken for the yearbook and/or ASB card, and pick up their schedules. It should run smoothly and take about ten minutes unless…..

Unless the address verification and emergency card information was not taken care of during the last week of the previous school year or during the 12 weeks of summer. (This process involves going to Dora, the school Registrar. As she pleasantly receives your papers and checks off your form, you admire her collection of lighthouses. It takes about two minutes, and can be done by students or parents). So if someone in your family failed to do this, come DDD you are standing in a line of up to two hours, paperwork in hand, watching the people who followed instructions after reading at least one of the two emails the school sent and/or the mailer, glide past you. This week usually falls upon one of the hottest weeks of August, so as your impatience increases and you ask yourself why you didn’t take care of this sooner, so does the temperature in the main hall.

I avoid standing in any type of line if possible. So when I see these students and parents with frowns on their faces, it is nice to be able to attempt to cheer them up. Thanks to Gelson’s Market and to a volunteer parent, a few boxes of day-old pastries were donated and during a couple of shifts PTSA parents wee seen greeting those in line with an offer of a chocolate or almond croissant. It especially helped those with small children in tow, although I didn’t stick around to see the post-sugar behavior that might have occurred.

Throughout the 20 hours of DDD, my trusty PTSA Board Members took turns at the PTSA table. I am so lucky to have this group of moms and dads that are intelligent, trustworthy, and accountable. We each have different strengths and passions which must be why I feel so confident that this group can be so effective for all Parents, Teachers , and Students at “The High School”.*

My dad recently retired from being a Superior Court Judge for ten years, and being low on volunteers for a morning shift, I asked him to help. He was thrilled. He had the job of welcoming students into the “Little Gym” for their pictures. He enjoyed it thoroughly, but had to admit that he was surprised that some of the students who came through weren’t exactly respectful, which I assume to mean they didn’t look him in the eye, smile, and say thank you. I immediately wondered how consistent my children are with those common manners that I have tried so hard to instill for the last 15 years!

Which brings me to the realization that I had once summer began. My son is 16, my daughter 13. They no longer need me (or any adult) around them all day. I am there just for rides, money, and food in the fridge. I wasn’t exactly prepared for this, but how much can a parent really prepare for? I am a teacher, so I had a lot of time on my hands with the summer free. It was nice. Really nice. I picked up a job helping a mother at “my” school pick up her daughters a few times a week after their camps, and my dog was in heaven with the two to three walks he got each day. I had lunches with girlfriends I don’t see much of during the school year, and of course, I prepared for my new position, President of the SBHS PTSA!

Next up: Teacher/Staff Luncheon that our Co-Hospitality Chairs will do. I have to return to my job on that day, so I will miss the event. After that comes the Freshman Parent Coffee that the Foundation for SBHS is advertising. The Foundation invited me to say a few words. I look forward to reaching out to a slew of fresh parents and will report on that next time….

Meredith Brace ’82 SBHS

*”The High School” was how SBHS was referred to for many years, as it was the only High School in Santa Barbara for almost a century. People simple used it in a sentence like, “I’ll meet you at The High School”, or “Have you seen the new tennis courts at The High School”, or “I just saw the play at The High School, and it was fabulous!”.