John Adams, 2nd President, Not Just Famous For Scratching Aquariums!

News comes late today that Mayor Marty has given JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL an executive pardon, releasing the school from the two-year ban imposed after, well, you know what. Let's face it, Aquarium Glass Scratch '07 has been the biggest local news story in town for a solid week.

In a way, it's almost quaint that the defacing of some sea-life tanks has gripped ABQ to this extent. At latest count, a Duke City Fix thread on the subject has reached 83 comments. Then there's been the theatrical progression of:

• Act I: Vandalism announced
• Act II: General outrage of public stated
  
• Act II: Two-year ban for JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL put in place
• Act IV: Students involved named and parents of accused ignominiously displayed in local media
• Act V: Hamlet kills Laertes, dies...oh wait....Mayor Marty magnanimously pardons John Adams Middle School in same cheesy way Iran's Ahmadinejad did in releasing British sailors

The highlight for me so far has been seeing an old teaching buddy thrust onto local news during Act II merely for bringing a school fieldtrip to the Aquarium the day after Act I. Said buddy was videotaped saying something like "Vandalism bad....something must be done". Riveting words, followed by Dick Knipfing or equivalent talking head shaking head back and forth while saying "Vandalism bad...something must be done".

As a MIDDLE SCHOOL teacher, I've generally tried to stay out of the whole thing. Debates on Duke City Fix and elsewhere about "these kids today", parental responsibility, chaperone supervision, etc. are too close to being at work for my taste. Besides, there seem to be plenty of representatives on every possible side of the argument, from "burn the offending kids alive while their parents watch with their eyes forced open ala 'Clockwork Orange'", to "these kids are just expressing themselves as a rebellion against inadequate monitoring by adults and a world that doesn't meet their individual needs".

I was even thinking I'd get past the whole five act drama without feeling compelled to write about it here, until Mayor Marty's executive pardon of JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL. Yes, for those not aware, the school in question is JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL. By the way, the address of the offending school is 5401 Glenrio Road N.W.. Here is a map to the school. The main switchboard number of the school is 831-0400.

That school again is JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL. Of course, there is no need to remember the school name because Mayor Marty has pardoned them. JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL, I mean. No need to forever remember with shame and disgust the name of that school, no sirree. Strike the name out of your collective memory, Burqueans. Forget about it..now. What was the name of that school? See, I've forgotten all about it.

Sure to be the most effective act in the entirety of Mayor Marty tenure. If only JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL could also hire a lobbyist/public relations firm like those charter schools. A couple of million on some damage control, spin and feel-good stories, and JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL will be right as rain. Well, that and about 15 years of time passing.