Benny Harrison woke up early Monday morning. He yawned, stretched, and snuggled back into his blankets. Then he shot straight up when he remembered what day it was: The first day of school! He leapt out of bed and got dressed in a flash. He whizzed down the stairs, greeting his Mom while simultaneously scarfing down his cereal. "You look excited," she said, "Don't eat so  fast! You'll get a tummy ache." She frowned as he wolfed the food. "I don't want to be late for my first day of third grade!" He replied.

          He finished the cereal, said goodbye to his Mom, grabbed his backpack, and zoomed out the front door. Benny whizzed to the bus stop. When he got and sat down, he suddenly realized that he was really tired. That sudden burst of excited energy was gone, and, looking down at his watch, he realized how early it was. Benny gave a huge yawn and snuggled deeper into the uncomfortable bus seats. His eyelids drooped and he drifted off into a light sleep.

 johnsonville

  elementary

    A jolt  from the bus brought Benny back into half-consciousness. The bus stopped in front of his new school! But as he got out, he was astonished by what he saw. His new school looked exactly like the haunted house from the Halloween carnival! Benny's stomach lurched, was this his new school?  Cautiously, he stepped off the school bus and made his way into the dilapidated building. Inside, he was directed to his classroom by a strange looking woman.

      As he walked through the building, he saw posters on the walls. They were demonstrations of... jet-piloting?! Benny hoped he would learn that skill!

               As he entered his classroom, he was greeted by his teacher, a hulking ogre! "Hello Mr. Harrison," the ogre said in a growling voice, " I hope you have fun today," he said with a sinister smile. Benny gulped, in his experience, anyone who talked about fun in Math class was no good. After putting his backpack away, he found his desk, a slimy stool behind a crumbling... box of cereal?! Notwithstanding the odd seating, Benny sat down. He looked around; the kids mostly seemed normal, chatting and laughing. Sometimes, though, they threw mean and disconcerting glances his way. "Look at the new kid," they whispered in secretive tones, "Let's have some fun with him!" Benny heard. He felt a pit in his stomach, and he had a feeling that this day would keep getting worse. 

Say your name-or else!

       Welcome to Mr. Grool's Third

        Grade Class!

    "Class, sit down, NOW!" The ogre teacher growled. Everyone obeyed as quickly as possible. "Ok, my name is Mr. Grool. Now I want everyone to say their names-AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!" So the students stated their names at lightning speed. Benny was so busy trying to remember them that he was flustered when it was his turn! "Um, Butterman-um-I mean Bennerflan, whoops, I mean...Benjamin!" He stuttered. Everyone was cracking up, until Mr. Grool yowled, "QUIET!!!!!" at the top of his lungs. The other classmates snickered. Poor Benny wanted to disappear. "OK, students, that's it. Time for Math," Mr. Grool wrapped up the activity.

Benny groaned and slumped even lower in his "desk".  Math was the worst!

                    [      /

                    ]    /

   Math was terrible! It was all high school level content and most of the words Benny had never heard before! "If I give the Slope-intercept form, you better be able to find the rise and run of line A," The ogre grunted. "Now who wants to come up here and do this one?" No one moved. Silence. "You, kid, get up here!!" Mr. Grool roared. "Me, sir?" Benny whimpered. The teacher roared again, louder, "Yes, you young fool, get up here!!" Benny tottered up the rows on unsteady legs, his head swimming. All eyes were on him. 

A few students smiled cruelly. He reached the blackboard, looked at the seeming hieroglyphs, them made a wild guess, "Three, sir?" The ogre grunted assent, clearly startled at Benny's accuracy.

    After Math came Grammar. This was truly horrible; everything was the absolute opposite of every rule he  had ever learned. Then Mr. Grool gave them a pop quiz, which poor Benny flunked. Mr. Grool then had him come up to the board and write, "I am very silly." over and over again. Poor Benny was ready to drop and his stomach growled for lunch. But the first section wasn't over yet. Next came Science, and they went to the lab for this. There was a container of radioactive waste in the corner and live snakes, spiders, worms, and scorpions scuttled about in their enclosures. "We will be making a chemical explosion," stated Mr. Grool. Benny poured a stinking liquid into a green serum. "Whoops!" Benny said as he accidentally poured the entire liquid into the vial. BOOM! The mixture exploded!

    Menu:

  octopus tentacles

        peacock brains

   After getting sent to the office for the explosion and shouted at by Mr. Grool, it was time for lunch. Benny felt faint with hunger, but when the smells wafting from the lunchroom met his nose, all appetite disappeared. He looked at the menu. Today was octopus tentacles and peacock brains!? He felt himself grow nauseous and fall to the floor. A nearby student stepped on him on his way to the lunch room.

Slowly, Benny raised himself off the floor and made his way to the cafeteria. Summoning all his courage, he received his lunch and ate it all before he could think about it. He was starving! He retched in disgust and ran to the bathroom. Fortunately, he was ok and returned to his homeroom. It was time for Social Studies.

  Social Studies 101: Clown       acrobatics

Juggling, 10 sec.

cartwheel, perfectly

handstand, 60 sec.