It's a quiet day at Rolling Meadows High School. An armed police officer smiled and said, "hello'" as he walked past the peace table. Both ways.

I have a new phone. It's determined to auto correct Rolling Meadows to Rollicking Meadows.

Apparently Army recruiters are doing a great job here.  I just had a 14 year-old boy tell me he has already enlisted.  He wants "to serve my country." The young boys traipsing along behind him have all drunk the same Flavor-Ade.  He was happy to eat my Starburst candy.  He didn't believe me when I told him he wasn't legally old enough to enlist. (?)

Two girls who are into theater came by. They were delighted to choose peace patches.

A gang of boys were teasing a smaller friend by taking his bottled drink and tossing it around to each other as he chased after it.  They ceased their "game" before I could say more than the word "Gentlemen" to end the bullying.

More girls came by for peace patches and candy. Shari, your handiwork is seeing a revival of popularity today.

Between lunch periods two armed police officers walked through the largely empty cafeteria. They greeted me as they strolled past. I responded in kind.  Maybe I should've asked why they were there?

It's now econd lunch period. Most students are just walking around and ignoring me.  My candy supply is more than sufficient, but definitely decreasing.

A boy I see each time I visit here walked by and greater me.

I had a conversation with a neat 12th grader named Bella. She's a musician. She has been accepted at Columbia, where she'll study music in the fall. She's concerned about the heavily macho attitude of friends who are in J-ROTC. She's a compassionate individual who believes in kindness. She wishes I could be here more often. I told her we're lucky RMHS let's me visit monthly, since some other schools only let us visit once a semester.

A handful of nice boys came by and chatted. Most haven't decided about careers.  They have no interest in the military. They kindly finished off my dish of candy.

Very quiet. Only a few students stopped at the table. Those that did pause and ask about us, seemed to understand our purpose.

Students are so focused on their cell phones and their cliques; it's hard to break through. And to them the wars are so remote.

Libby

It was a quiet day at Rolling Meadows High School today.  I chatted with several students.  None of them expressed any interest in the military. Almost all planned to go to college and start at Harper.

I read somewhere that the military was meeting their recruitment goals currently.  Based on the students I talked with, the military isn't experiencing much interest in Rolling Meadows.

A couple girls expressed interest in becoming oral hygienists.  Another hoped to become a doctor.

The main interest I saw was in candy. Numerous young people zipped by, grabbed candy, and kept going.  Others politely asked for and received candy. Between the two lunch periods, I took a quick restroom break. When I returned, all the  candy on the table had been taken. I had to refill my candy dish several times today.  Sugar consumption suggests there'll be plenty of future need for dentists and oral hygienists.