New Life : A Second Chance

Everyone was quite excited about the morning assembly. Alright, fine. The students were just happy that there wasn't any class. Still, there were a lot of curious people that was interested to hear what the Principal had to say.

Kyle was one of them. According to the reports given to him that night, Principal Godric was quite well known. Five years ago, he had turned a troubled school into a high academic achievement school. Kyle was impressed at the fact that Mr. Robins managed to get Principal Godric to agree to take over this school.

Even though the both of them were good friends, Principal Godric wouldn't drop things just to help out Mr Robins. There must be something that Sakura Academy had that was of interest to Principal Godric. This was what Kyle was interested to get to know.

A rather suave man in a beige suit walked onto the stage and stood firmly at the podium. Just his bearing alone made Kyle smile, for it seemed to demand respect. Would he ever have such a bearing? Perhaps when his body became an adult.

"Good morning every one of Sakura Academy. I am your new Principal, Godric."

He paused as everyone started clapping their hands. After it died down, he nodded and took a deep breath, "I have the reputation of being strict, and a rule breaker. A game changer. Someone who does not abide by the norms of society. I am sure you're all worried about this."

He could see some of the students nodding as well as the teachers who were seated in the front row in front of him. He didn't have the teachers on stage behind him like Principal Dobbins, for he wanted to look at them and see their reactions. He also wanted them to know that the teachers, like the students, also needed his guidance. They weren't just the force behind him, but also the force ahead of him. Symbolic, really.

"I am here to tell you ... that it's all true."

Surprised gasps were heard. "I do not sugar coat things. I tell it to you straight. I am not here to molly coddle you or to hold your hand, but I am here to shape you up into the best that you can be! YOU are the future of society and YOU are the ones that will carry it forward. We are here to guide you, to help you but ultimately, you're the ones who will need to walk that path."

"Are you willing to walk that path with me?" he demanded from the crowd.

While the response wasn't quite enthusiastic, it was still positive. Principal Godric just smiled, nodding his head, "A good start. Dismal to some perhaps, but I see the positiveness from it. There are some of you who are willing."

"I also understand from that the previous Principal might have been a little heavy-handed," he said and some snickered at that, "but that is the past. We are for the future. We will build up from that and carry forth. To achieve this ..."

He paused for dramatic effect, looking up at the ceiling and finally pointing a finger at all of them, sweeping his hands to cover the entire hall, "requires ALL of your efforts. Yes, you students ... and teachers!"

The teachers eyes opened at this, wondering where this was going.

"Today, there will NOT be any classes at all," he started when the whole hall erupted in great shouts of joy and people jumped up whooping. He knocked on the podium loudly to get their attention, waited until the sat down before he continued, "because we'll be having a test."

Everyone shouted again, this time in dismay and groans were heard. Principal Godric, however, seemed to be having the time of his life as he started laughing whole heartedly, "I really love the energy of this school! All of you are fantastic!!"

Everyone was flabbergasted. This ... this was new. They were making a whole heck of a lot of noise, and even interrupted the speech the Principal was making yet he wasn't angry? That alone made them all sit down with their backs straight, now truly interested as they listened to him further.

"The test I have is a simple one. It is a test to be completed in 3 hours, and it covers a whole lot of things. From general knowledge, to academic subjects and ... a few personality type questions. I want each of you to answer to the best of your abilities. Do NOT copy or ask what your friend is writing for the results is important."

"The test is designed specially to gauge your level of understanding and method of learning. There is no pass or fail in this test. So long as you answer truthfully, you will only benefit from it. The teachers as well will have to do special tests. Their tests will be different from yours, but the purpose is the same. To find out what your strengths and weaknesses are."

This sounded very interesting, Kyle thought to himself. He could guess where the Principal was heading with this, but he wasn't 100% sure. He waited in excitement as he listened further. Was he going to do what he thinks he will? If so, then it would truly be a complete revamp of the school system but if implemented properly, it would definitely propel the school up. It required a massive amount of groundwork and changes to the structure.

"First, I am getting rid of these stupid naming of classes. ABCDEF? What is that?? How demoralising it is to be in Class F?? I will abolish that and replace it with names of flowers! We are Sakura Academy, right? So we shall have flowers instead. Nice, pretty flowers. I will put up a list of 26 names and ALL OF YOU ... will vote on your favourite 6. The top 6 will then be the names of your class.

"Secondly! Each class will be based on how you scored for your test. But wait! Didn't I say one cannot fail or pass the test? It's simple. Each class is unique and catered to house those who are similar. You can have people who are great at drawing but sucks at memorising. You can have people who are geniuses at memorising but suck at understanding. Things like that," Principal Godric was explaining, and he was getting more and more excited.

"Pssst. Kyle," said Xing Han next to him, "Can a Principal say 'suck' ?"

Kyle laughed and leaned towards Xing Han, "A Principal can say whatever he wants. He did say he's a rule breaker, right?"

Xing Han pursed his lips, nodding his head. "You're right, so right."

"Teachers have had a tough time trying to adjust their teaching style and methods for different type of students in each class. In my method, each class will have the same type of students with the same type of learning style. So the teacher's assigned to that class will teach specifically to cater to their strengths, and help guide them in their weaknesses."

"Teachers will go through special training throughout the year, and yes, this will take some time to truly get it all ironed out. We are the first school to be doing this and if successful, the system will be implemented in other schools as well! So your feedback and efforts will also help other generations and other schools, and not just you."

Principal Godric was looking so excited and animated as he finished with, "We have the full support of the District Office and all the training will be fully funded. We have one year to show them the results and I am sure we will be able to show vast improvement. Are you as excited as I am??"

Kyle looked at the rest of the guys, and raised his eyebrows up and down comically, "What say you, guys?"

"Hell, yeah!" shouted Ali. On cue, the four of them stood up with their hands up in the air shouting, "HELL YEAH!"

Principal Godric was taken aback for a while but then broke into a huge grin. Kyle turned back to the rest of the students and giving them his most winning smile, he asked them, "Doesn't this sound great? Come on! Let's show Principal Godric our support!"

Kay got up too, holding on to Kyle as she smiled at him and she raised her hands too. Kyle looked at her tenderly and then smiled sweetly at Sarah who stood up also. The wave then began, small at first then became a huge tidal wave as more and more students stood up and started waving their arms in the air.

Principal Godric smiled widely at the scene and took note of the fact that this overwhelmingly positive acceptance to his plan was mainly due to the young boy that had stood up first. He silently observed him and made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

**--**--**--

After the assembly was over, everyone filled back to their classrooms. There were a lot of things that needed to be done. Classes for the day were all canceled, but would need to be replaced on another day. Some of the teachers were grumbling about this, feeling that it should not be dropped on them all of the sudden. They had made their teaching plans, and now everything was going haywire.

As unhappy as they were, however, they couldn't help but be hopeful that the grand plan the new Principal was making, would bear fruit. Some were pessimistic and felt that it was too ambitious and was risking the future of the kids. One year of trial? What would happen then? What if they failed? All sorts of questions went through their mind.

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