Professor Grayson Wright
July 20, 2018 4:21 PM
Welcome to First Year Orientation! by Professor Grayson Wright
As they disembarked the wagons, returning students might have been slightly surprised by the figure waiting to greeting them, helping any down from the wagons who required such assistance and pointing everyone in the directions they needed to go and reminding everyone to leave their trunks in the wagons for the elves to collect. Normally, after all, Professor Xavier performed this duty. On this particular day, however, Nathan was indisposed, and so Grayson Wright had gamely volunteered to step up to cover the goals, including the ones related to separating the first years from everyone else and giving them the tour.To those who did not know him, nothing about his appearance was the sort of thing to inspire surprise, or even much notice. He was of average height, with dark hair and eyes, and a face so devoid of distinctive features that it was quite possible the new students might primarily identify him as That Professor With The Glasses for a while, as he required the glasses just to get around the school without bumping into things and thus was not seen without them on occasions when he was conscious. In the outside world, he might have further distinguished himself by wardrobe, to a point, but at school, in his role as a teacher, he had the blandest of bland navy blue robes on, having given up attempts to wear ties about halfway through his first year on the job.
He also talked with his hands a lot, though this was less apparent than usual because he was using them to point the first years in the right direction as he separated them out of the students he recognized. Said direction was into one of the clearings in the Labyrinth Gardens, where a running fountain stood in the center and there were three tables off to one side, away from the roped-off entrances to other paths. On the first table was a number of folders, each the same forest green color as the students’ robes. These contained class schedules, school maps, and lists of the major school rules students would be expected to follow. On the next table was a variety of snacks – sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, cupcakes, cookies, and various other finger foods – and small plates to eat these on. On the third were small glasses and a selection of water, fruit juices, and fruit punch.
Once everyone seemed to be in or heading in the right direction, Professor Wright left the wagons in the elves’ capable hands and went to face down possibly the most daunting task he’d had since his first lesson: addressing the first years.
“Hello everyone – gather round, please, I don’t want to shout.” Or amplify his voice magically, as that would have been a bit much in such a small space with so few people to address. “Hello, good afternoon. I’m Professor Wright, and starting tomorrow, I’ll be your Charms teacher. Right now, though, I’m your Orientation leader, so – welcome to Sonora Academy.”
To some, it no doubt sounded like he was speaking slowly. This was because he was making an effort to speak reasonably slowly. Sonora had had quite the influx of students who did not consider English as their first language in recent years – in just the past two years, they had had Quebecois French, Russian, and German, with the Quebecois student also speaking Chinese. On the new rosters, Professor Wright had noticed one name that strongly suggested to him that its owner was related to the school’s resident Russophone, so it was fair enough to assume that at least one person in this year would also struggle with English.
“Sonora is a seven-year school where you will, if you stay with us all those years, gain a thorough education in magical theory and practice. You’ll start out, for your first year, with seven classes – Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and flying lessons. You can drop flying lessons in your second year, and begin electives in your third year, if you want. In your fifth year, you’ll take your first set of major exams, the Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills, or CATS. After that, you may select classes to focus on, though you’ll need at least two to graduate and three if you want to pursue your education further after you leave Sonora.”
He thought that was enough terrifying exam talk for the limited attention spans of eleven-year-olds for now. “We know that you all come from different educational backgrounds now,” he said, because this was true. Some might have gone to Muggle elementary schools while others might have had specialized tutors for each subject while others might have had…more unorthodox training. Most fell somewhere on a continuum between the extremes of unschooling and specialized tutors for each subject. “Your professors all have office hours when we can give you extra help in our subjects if you need it, and Professor Skies, our Deputy Headmistress and your Transfiguration teacher, runs special sessions for anyone who needs help with reading and writing English more fluently, or with basic maths. You can see times for those in the schedules in your green folders – everyone get one of those if you don’t have one yet.
“Outside of classes, you’ll have some choice in how you spend your time. We have a variety of clubs and sports here, and you’ll see notices about meetings posted around the schools when the students who organize them are ready to start up for the year. Breakfast is from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m, lunch is from 11:00 to one, and supper is five till seven, but you can find snacks and drinks there between those times as well. Curfew is at ten p.m., and at that time, you’ll need to be inside your Houses – which are part of the main building, don’t worry. They’re four groups of rooms, and tonight, at the Welcoming Feast, you’ll be Sorted into one of them by dipping the blank badges you have now into a cauldron. If your badge turns blue, you’re an Aladren – the House that values learning and problem-solving.” He might have sounded a little proud there; he was a former Aladren. “If it turns red, you belong in Crotalus, the House for people who like to be well-prepared for everything. Yellow means you’re in Teppenpaw, the House for our diplomats – and a House which has done very well in the House Cup recently,” he added, lest Teppenpaw sound lame to them. “Finally, if your badge turns brown, that means you’re a Pecari, the House for people who always land on their feet and are always willing to take a chance. All the Houses have other traits, though, so don’t worry if you don’t think any of those things sounds exactly like you – there’s a place for everyone here at Sonora.
“Your House will have prefects, who are older students, and a Head, who is a staff member – they’ll all look after you while you’re here. Your House can earn points based on things you do – excelling in class or in sports, or showing responsibility, or somehow helping the school community and showing leadership. The House with the most points at the end of the year earns the House Cup, and sometimes other privileges – last year, Teppenpaw got to choose the music for the second half of our Midsummer Ball, and they’ll host the Cup this year.
“If no-one has any questions about all of that, you can mingle and get to know your classmates for a while and have some snacks until we begin our tour of the mansion. If you do, feel free to come see me – and welcome again to Sonora.”
OOC (Out of Character) Note:
Welcome first years to Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask staff questions or meet your new classmates. This thread is intended for first year students to have a chance to try out posting and get acclimated to the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming.
Please remember that anything that happened in the Sandbox was just practice and did not actually occur. (You are welcome, of course, to use any background information you generated about your character during these exercises such as pets, accidental magic, etc, but they have not yet spent any time at Sonora or interacted with any classmates.)
If you enter your email address when you reply, you will be notified when someone responds to your post. This is optional but can be useful for helping you keep track of posts. Please do NOT check the box that says 'show email address,' as this will make it public and may result in spam.
Now, go forth, new first years of Sonora! Post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone here is happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC board or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can. Have fun and we’re glad you could join us!
Subthreads: Is it too soon to throw up? by Evelyn Stones with Ness McLeod, Anonymous
Expecting the unexpected... by Lyssa Fitzgerald with Malikhi Hill
Hello, everyone. It is so nice to be here. by Katerina Vorontsov with Julius Astley
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Professor Grayson Wright
Welcome to First Year Orientation!
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Lyssa Fitzgerald
July 22, 2018 9:07 PM
Expecting the unexpected... by Lyssa Fitzgerald
Parker had told her a lot during the summer about Sonora. Her mother had seen to that. Parker though wouldn't talk a lot in front their parents, and especially in front of JJ, about the wider world Lyssa was about to enter. Luckily JJ had gotten a job working on construction projects in the valley, so he had been gone most of the day times. With their parents also gone, Lyssa had pushed Parker on a number of fronts.She'd learned about the clubs, the classes (or as much as Parker could describe them, meaning some were more coherent and understandable than others, the grounds themselves, and the people.
She knew what a few of the professors might look like and some of the surprising things Parker had found, for example the lack of telephones and internet was real, he wasn't making it up to make their mom feel better.
Still, when Lyssa had gone shopping for school she had been shocked and surprised by everything. The little elves running around everywhere. The moving pictures on newspapers and the paper signs that seemed to change colors and shapes, not to mention the animals.
Lyssa had stared in wonder at one elf in a coffee shop for so long that she had felt the need to talk to it and apologize. She had started to talk to it, when Parker had pulled her back mentioning that wizards don't normally have conversations with the elves. Lyssa thought that was a bit rude, and had gone back and apologized to the elf for staring and for being pulled away before leaving with her brother.
She was equally amazed by the flying wagons. The looked like ones people used to ride out west. She had been in one of those when she was younger, before Parker left, and this one was quite similar. Except it flew and was much more comfortable of a ride. Though Lyssa assumed it was because the air was easier for the wheels than the ground. She had loved the wind blowing through her hair, but after awhile it had become a bit too much and she had tied it back in a simple pony tail like when she had played soccer before.
After they had landed and before they had gotten off Parker had pulled her aside, "I can't go with you to orientation, but good luck and expect the unexpected ok?"
Without waiting for a response he had jumped off the wagon and gone off somewhere. As Lyssa looked at the back of him as he walked down the pathway, and could feel the excitement. She was here, finally. After hearing about it, and dreaming about it since she'd heard about it, she was actually here on the campus. She felt both so grownup being on her own and also so nervous that it might all come crashing down.
As she walked down the pathway the nice man with glasses had motioned to she began to worry a bit.
What if everything went wrong and it turned out she didn't have magic after all?
"No. They wouldn't make that mistake. They have to have some kind of indicators to know."
"But what if you go to class and nothing happens? Do they send you home? Do you have to sit there not being able to do anything?"
Thoughts like this continued as she went and picked up her folders and began to read everything carefully. She was just about done examining the map when the nice man with glasses spoke. He seemed to be speaking slowly, and from the experience of having done it herself, Lyssa wondered if there was someone here who didn't speak English. Mark one thing she had not expected.
The nice man was a Professor. That wasn't surprising, and if Lyssa thought about it hard enough, that was expected. His name was Professor Right. Taught Charms. He taught the Right Charms.
Got it. thought Lyssa. Trying to memorize his name the way her mom had taught all three of her children.
As he continued she realized that she knew most of the things he was telling her, flying lessons, the testing (which sounded like the SATs when Parker had mentioned them), and office hours.
When Professor Right mentioned English classes Lyssa looked around to see who might be nodding, but snapped her head forward at the mention of not knowing basic math. Lyssa tried to think of a situation where someone wouldn't have learned basic math and couldn't. She had loved math, and part of her had worried about going to Sonora and not studying it any more. She hadn't thought that there might be students who didn't know math.
This was such an unexpected fact that she stopped listening to what Professor Right had been saying for a bit only to came back at the mention of sorting. Though Lyssa had heard Parker's breakdown of the houses, he hadn't used the same descriptions. Lyssa found herself liking Professor Right's descriptions better.
As Professor Right ended his talk Lyssa looked around at the other first year students. There was one whose lipstick was bright orange and Lyssa found herself walking towards her. She didn't wear make up usually, but she found the color striking, and it reminded her of something Teagan would wear. When she saw that orange lipstick had started a conversation with someone else she turned towards the drinks not wanting to jump in.
Taking a swig of the drink Lyssa's eyes opened wide. It tasted so good, but was a taste she couldn't name. Bringing her cup down from her non-orange lips Lyssa turned towards another student who'd come to get a drink.
"This is delicious, do you know what that taste is?"
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Lyssa Fitzgerald
Expecting the unexpected...
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Lyssa Fitzgerald
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Lyssa Fitzgerald
July 22, 2018 9:13 PM
OOC for above by Lyssa Fitzgerald
I was so intent on editing the above post that I forgot to write the OOC which is:The post above has words and actions for Parker. As I write Lyssa's brother Parker as well, so I am not writing for someone else's character.
Sorry for the two poster.
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Lyssa Fitzgerald
OOC for above
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Lyssa Fitzgerald
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Malikhi Hill
July 23, 2018 11:03 AM
Looking for trouble by Malikhi Hill
Malikhi hardly listened to 'Professor Wright', being more interested in looking around. Anyway, he was talking rather slowly and sounded rather dull as well as looked it. He hoped it wouldn't all be dreary and boring. This was the first wizard school he'd ever seen and what's more, he was in America, which was an experience all its own.With a toothy smile, he casually wandered over to a table, hands in his pockets and looked over all of the green folders, finding his own and nosily looking over the others, taking in names. There were some funny ones that Malikhi wouldn't even know how to pronounce and there seemed to be quite a few girls. His smile only seemed to grow - how much fun could he have pranking some of the girls? His guess was a lot.
Moving over to the food, he tucked his folder under his arm, deciding to look at all the boring school stuff later. He piled his plate high with various nibbles before moving to help himself to a drink. He just caught the tail end of a question from the girl who was also standing there and he blinked, picking up a cup of purple fruit juice. He grinned at her.
"I dunno, but it looks very orange!" he peered into her cup, his voice coming out strongly, confidently and very, very English. "What's your name, then?"
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Malikhi Hill
Looking for trouble
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