Dear Sixth Grade Boy

Dear Sixth Grade Boy,

I would like to apologize for the following passage I made you read aloud today in "My Side of the Mountain," the tale of a young boy who leaves civilization behind him to make his life alone in the wilds of the Catskill Mountains:

"We were a gay gathering - me shouting, Frightful the Falcon preening, the woodthrush cocking its pretty head. Occasionally The Baron Weasel would pop up and glance furtively at us. He didn't care for water. How he stayed glossy and clean was a mystery to me, until he came to the boulder beside our bath pool one day, wet with the dew from the ferns. He licked himself until he was polished."

Gay, cocking, wet and licked should really never be in the same paragraph of a book for sixth grade boys, ever.

I further apologize that in Social Studies, we will be using the word Trojan today. Repeatedly.

One more week till vacation.

Sincerely,
Your Teacher