5/2/08—You’re not gonna believe this! Years ago the Connellsville Middle School mascot, a stuffed toy chipmunk, mysteriously disappeared. It made the newspapers, because the thing had been around 80 years and went to all the football games. Today after school, Curt Stevens took me to the equipment room at Odyssey Middle School and opened up a vent. He pulled out a stuffed chipmunk. Curt had swiped the little guy at a football game when he was in middle school!

5/5/08—I decided I wanted to show the younger generation something I did. So I snuck into the belfry and carved my initials into the bell. “A.J. 2008.” Unfortunately, the janitor noticed the belfry door was unlocked and discovered my initials. The principal summoned Annie Jamison and me to his office. Since Annie is about 3-feet-6-inches tall, and there’s no way she could reach the top of the bell, I was busted for destruction of school property. As part of my punishment, I have to repaint the belfry.

5/7/08—I’m not having a good week. Apparently, Mary McGuire reads my blog. This would be fine, except she’s Barry Helton’s neighbor, who has a cousin named Wally. Wally’s father is a barber and cuts Mark Miller’s hair. Mark is the police officer who was working the day the mascot was stolen. He found out about Curt because of my blog. Now Curt’s in a lot of trouble.

5/9/08—After staying after school to start painting, I noticed something on the walls of the school hallway. Five journalism awards presented to Lucy Cunningham-Schultz. She was good. Plus, she’s not in trouble (unlike me and Curt). I decided a little too late that hers is the kind of legacy I’d rather leave.

—A.J. Out!