Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

October 04, 2013 7:11 PM
Kiva stood at the front table with all the other staff members sans Professor Skies, who would be with the first years. There were a couple of new faces at the staff table that might have some of the students interests peaked and a couple of faces missing. Every year there were staff changes. No matter how hard Kiva had tried, making everyone happy or their lives easier was never enough to keep them all on board. It was just another hassle in the many hassles of being the Head of a school. Unfortunately, she was going to be throwing the students a curve ball tonight and there was little she could really do about it.

Her summer had been absolute chaos. A mother of five should expect chaos, but not like this. Ayita had graduated, so the family had thrown her a party. They had tried to keep the celebrations going, but Angel’s health had suddenly begun to decline and his potions just didn’t seem to be working any longer. It had all been a terrifying experience for them to go through. Harper was too young to understand, but she was pretty attached to Angel and she became upset whenever they had to keep her away from him. Chloe and Emery were downtrodden throughout the summer. Emery had done his best to keep a positive attitude on it, which was normally Chloe’s job, but there was only so much he could do about everything. She appreciated the gesture though. Jeff had received a promotion and was now a head executive at the advertising firm. She was proud of him, but it meant less time at home, which meant, Kiva needed to be home more.

And here lies the issue.

She watched the students milling about while they found their friends and discussed their summers. She took it all in before the new Deputy Headmistress brought in the first years. They had a smaller group this year, but Kiva wasn’t worried about it. It just meant that the Professors could focus more individually on them than they could in the past. When the first years began to file in, the older students settled in because they knew what was coming.

Charming herself to be heard, Kiva greeted them all “Good Evening, Everyone! For the returning students, I say welcome back and to our new students, welcome to Sonora Academy. For those who do not know me, I am Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau, but feel free to call me Professor K.” This was a standard greeting, but it was always necessary. She didn’t want to just jump right into things and be too overwhelming.

“Our first priority for the moment is to have the first years sorted.” Kiva turned her hazel eyes to the newest group of students. “In order for this to be done, I need for each of you to step up one at a time to your new Deputy Headmistress Skies, who is also the Transfiguration Professor, and take a sip from the potion she will offer to you.” Kiva explained, nodded to Selina to indicate who the Deputy Headmistress was (although the goblet in her hand and the fact that she had lead them into the hall should have made it obvious). “Once you have taken a sip of the potion, your skin will turn into the color of the house you will be spending the next seven years in. Once your house is indicated, please have a seat at your house table. Yellow is for Teppenpaw, blue is for Aladren, red is for Crotalus, and brown is for Pecari. Please, if you could form a line and begin…” She gestured for the first student to step up.

Once the sorting was completed, Kiva called for attention once more. “I would like Nora Dobson and Linus Macaulay to please come up to the front and accept your new Head Girl and Head Boy badges.” Kiva stated. She grinned and handed each their appropriate badge. “Congratulations to you both.” She said before having them return to their seats. “Aria Yale, Heaven Baird, Clara Abernathy, and Lucian D’Alesandro, please come and join me up front.” Kiva called out and waited for the four of them to join her. She gave them each a badge, “Everyone, meet your newest Prefects. Be sure to congratulate them when you see them.” She clapped with the students before having them return to their seats.

“As usual, we do have some announcements to make. First, as I stated earlier, Professor Skies has stepped up and taken on the role of Deputy Headmistress. She will also be the Head of House for Crotalus. As we all know, Coach Pierce left at the end of last year. Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a suitable replacement for her at this time. I was going to cancel Quidditch due to this, however, Professor Olivers has stated interest in substituting as Coach for the time being. I still expect all Quidditch Captains to fulfill their duties and treat Professor Olivers with great respect. Most especially since she is taking time out of her schedule to give you all the opportunity to continue playing this year.” That was a lot to say, but it was done. Now on to the next.

“We have a new Librarian this year, Ms. Amelle Nicchi.” Kiva made sure to pronounce her name correctly as Ah-mel, instead of Emily like she had originally thought it sounded like. “In case you have not noticed, but our Groundskeeper, Mr. Brockert, is no longer with the school. He has taken a position working with exotic plants. We as a staff wished him the best of luck when he gave us his goodbyes. I hope you all will do the same. In his place, we have our new Groundskeeper, Nathan Xavier. Please give him and Ms. Nicchi a warm welcome when you see them.” So many announcements and there was still one more to come.

“As some of you may be aware of, my son, Angel, has not been able to return to Sonora. He has become quite ill and the Healers have not been able to find a solution. Due to this, I am unable to fulfill my duties as Headmistress of this school in a way that it deserves to be.” Kiva informed them. “The man to my left is Mortimer Brockert. He has been a part of the education process and administration for many years. He has decided to take on some of the roles that I cannot take on currently while my son is ill.” She had no idea if this would really affect anyone but her and her family. Still, she needed them to know what was to come. “This term will be a transition period for Mr. Brockert as he becomes acquainted with the site and with his new found duties. At the end of this term, I will officially step down as Headmistress of this school and Headmaster Brockert will take over. I wanted you to all be aware of the situation because there will be times when he will be running the school while I am away. So, for the year, you will have two Heads of this school.” Kiva paused for the moment to let this all sink in to everyone. It wouldn’t be as terrible or weird as some people might think, but she and the administration thought this was the easiest way to go about things.

“Last thing before we sing and eat.” Kiva stated, moving this on quickly. “This year’s Midsummer Event will be the school concert. Each Prefect and Head Student will be putting on a show for the student body. Every student must be in at least one of their shows.” She waited for the negative reactions. “I know I know, how dare we force you all to participate, but it is what it is. However the Prefect or Head student wants to handle it is up to them. A sign up sheet will be placed in the Hall and each Prefect and Head’s name will be listed. There is only a limited amount of slots under each name, so sign up early. Okay, now onto the song and the food.”

Sheets of music appeared in front of the students. “Let’s begin.”

Every day we strive
Learning to survive
Life’s hardships and to solve its mystery.
Learning to defend
Our honour and our friends,
Flying high to meet our destiny
We will stand and face those who want to harm us.
We won’t let the world transfigure, jinx or charm us
I won’t fight alone, as long as you are with me.
Sonora be my home, my tutor and my spirit
Vasita quoque floeat; Even the desert blooms.


Once the song ended, the food appeared before them. A feast of great magnitude. “Please enjoy the rest of your evening. When it is time to head back to your Houses, your Head of House will call for your attention and bring you to your destinations. That is all.” Kiva concluded and then took her seat at the staff table.

OOC: Welcome First years! Please do not post on any other board until your Head of House posts his/her welcoming speech, which should be up in a week's time. Have fun at the feast and remember the site rules. Happy posting everyone!
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0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau Welcoming Feast!! 0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau 1 5

Serena Brockert

October 10, 2013 6:00 PM
Serena stood next to her cousin Duncan with the rest of the first years ready to recieve the goblet. She wasn't sure what house she wanted to be in. In Crotalus, she'd be with Tristan, who she was probably closest to of her cousins, oddly enough and it had been Ryan's house too. Unfortunately, it was also Carrie's house and Serena was scared of her. Arabella and Tristan weren't. Tristan seemed to be invincible to anything the fifth year could say to him. Carrie had ways to get to Arabella, because the sixth year got extremely angry when someone she cared about was hurt, so she got a two for one deal and that other person being hurt was either Ryan or herself. More often herself now that Ryan would come nowhere near the Crotalus girl. Serena couldn't blame him. She didn't want to be around Carrie either. Aside from Aunt Pearl, she couldn't think of anyone who did.

However, she didn't think she'd be in Pecari with Arabella or Aladren with Amity. Serena wasn' t really the Pecari type at all, she was much too quiet and not....fierce enough. Arabella was like a lioness protecting her cubs when it came to the rest of them. Though the rest of the time she was very rational and logical and calm. And she wasn't especially brainy either. Actually, she wasn't quite sure why Amity was in Aladren, she supposed it was because despite not wanting to do anything more than the basic things that she had to as a student and as a pureblood, the fourth year was very smart. She was good at all her school subjects,had a talent for languages and managed to maintain a social life. Of course, there were good people in Amity's class to socialize with, she didn't know about her own yet. But Sonora students tended to be pure.

She watched as Duncan took the cup and swallowed it down, turning a brilliant shade of yellow. So he was to be in Teppenpaw. Now, she'd have someone no matter what house she went into. As Duncan turned to walk to the Teppenpaw table, he looked at her a second and whispered "Remember, we're twins." Serena giggled. It was a plan they'd come up with on the wagon. One that they'd made sure Carrie not hear because she would ruin everything just for the fun of it. If someone thought something was enjoyable, there was nothing as enjoyable to Carrie as ruining it for them. In addition to that, they'd agreed that Arabella and their brother Fabian and Duncan's younger sister Juniper were also their siblings, based on the fact that people would be able to see by the way they interacted that Arabella and Serena were sisters. And Duncan saying the rest were his cousins was technically true, they just weren't actually his first cousins. Upon the wagons arriving, they'd informed Amity of the plan too, and her reaction was to ask if they could have him as a close relative instead of Carrie.

Serena took the cup from her cousin twin and drank it down herself and turned the same bright shade of yellow that Duncan had turned only moments before. She felt a sense of relief, she knew in her heart, she'd never belong in Pecari or Aladren, though the first year had feared being sorted into Crotalus. She had never understood how the members of that house could be so different, based on the three cousins of hers that were there-or in Ryan's case, had been there. She wasn't especially close to her oldest cousin based on their age difference, but it was pretty obvious that he was different than Carrie or Tristan. Their whole family knew how he had been treated vs how the other two had been. Tristan had been treated as a prince by his family, the heir. He could sometimes be arrogant,which drove Arabella nuts, but for some reason they'd become pretty close. On the other hand, her eldest cousin had been mistreated by his mother, from what Serena had gathered over the years. The impression she had gotten of him was that he was quiet, nervous and eager to please. He actually had more in common with Chaslyn that way.

Though some of them were closer to each other than others, due to how old someone was in relation to someone else, they were a close knit bunch of cousins. Arabella had said told her, united against a common enemy, from Ryan all the way down to little Vlad. Just like their parents before them had united against Aunt Pearl.

She followed Duncan to the Teppenpaw table, and frowned. Apparently, though she was certain he would have sat by her, people decided to take all the seats around him. She'd only seen one other yellow girl and no other yellow boys amongst the new first years. Serena looked over towards him and he looked back apologetically and shrugged.

The blonde was just going to have to find someone to talk to on her own. Maybe the other yellow girl who was going to be her roommate. She did hope they'd get on, otherwise things would be miserable for the next seven years. What if they hated each other? She couldn't imagine the other girl would be mean if she was sorted into Teppenpaw. They were the nice house, right? Which must have meant Serena was nice and that her roommate would be too. If not, she would have Duncan at least and Tristan as well. And of course, no matter what, her sister would protect her if need be. She hoped, of course, that there would be no need.

The Headmistress began her speech, starting with the Head Student and prefect announcements. The names Aria Yale and Linus Macaulay meant nothing to her, though she took note of Aria as one of the Teppenpaw prefects. As for the others, Nora Dobson was a distant cousin of some sort, and she'd heard of the names Baird and D'Alesandro before. All she knew about Clara Abernathy was that Amity didn't like her at all.

Next, Headmistress announced staff changes. The Transfiguration professor was to be the Deputy Head and the Charms professor was going to run the Quidditch games, not that Serena had any interest in being involved in those. Even if she had been willing to risk serious injury and death, she wasn't terribly athletic. She was more musical, and while her sister fenced, Serena played the violin. Though she felt her playing was inadequate compared to Chaslyn's. Of course, all her cousin did was work on extracurricular activities and she never had any fun. Her childhood had not been normal the way Serena's had and that made her feel bad for her cousin (and Amity too) and that it was a pretty fair trade off. She'd rather not be as good at the violin then never have had a chance to play and enjoy life. Besides, Amity said she'd be better at something if she only had one activity to focus on compared to the all ones she and Chaslyn did. Plus, the fourth year didn't like to do anything her mother wanted if she could avoid it.

The Librarian was mentioned next and then the fact that Uncle Seth was leaving and there was a new Groundskeeper taking his place. Serena frowned again. She would have liked to have her uncle there. Sure, he couldn't (or wouldn't?) do anything to get them special privilages and claimed that nothing that they had to complain about was ever his fault according to her sister and older cousins, but having family around was comforting. Well, most family anyway.

Serena's eyes widened at the last announcement. She felt awful for the Headmistress and her poor son and her whole family but it turned out that the Teppenpaw would have family on staff after all. The thing was, she didn't know Mortimer. The Brockerts were a large family. She didn't even know how she was related to him. Of course, she didn't know how she was related to Duncan exactly either. If they weren't pretending to be twins, it would be easier to just say cousin than figure out the exact relation. It would probably be the same with Mortimer. Unfortunately, he didn't look as friendly as Uncle Seth, so perhaps she shouldn't call him by his first name, as awkward as it would be to call someone Mr. or Headmaster Brockert for her.

Food appeared as announcements ended. Serena took a twice-baked potato, loading it up with butter and sour cream. She looked over at the person next to her. "Excuse me, could you pass me the dish of chives?"
11 Serena Brockert I hope it'll be welcoming. 272 Serena Brockert 0 5


Gemma Bennett

October 12, 2013 11:33 PM
As the first years came in, Gemma sat up very straight on her seat at the Teppenpaw table, craning her neck to see the students coming in, her expression uncharacteristically focused and serious. She still didn’t think she would come anywhere close to matching her roommates for seriousness – she knew she wasn’t very smart, but around them, she felt like an absolute airheaded idiot, sometimes – but for her, she was practically downright grave. Her stomach was fluttering and her hands were clenched in her lap and she knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it. It was the first time she had ever gotten to see one of her siblings Sorted, and she was sure she was more excited and jittery about it than even Leo, the object of her attention, was.

Her brother, to her dismay, wasn’t at the top of the line, but the line wasn’t very long, and very quickly, he was turning blue and going to another table. Gemma sat back in her seat, a little disappointed. Really, she guessed she had known he wasn’t cut out for Teppenpaw, but – well, Paul and Eliza had been together, and they were the ones Father had taken up the most time with, so Leo should have been with her, Mother’s kids. Except he wasn’t, he was breaking pattern entirely and going to Aladren, of all places, it was nothing but Careys over there.

Maybe Richard would be a Teppenpaw. She would just have to wait and see, she guessed.

Her mind was taken off feeling neglected by her siblings, though, by all the announcements. By the end, Gemma couldn’t even remember everything which had been said, but she knew two things for sure: things were going to be difficult this year, and things were changing at the same time, it was one or two people away from being like the whole school she had known last year wasn’t there anymore, except for the other students anyway, and she hadn’t even actually looked to see if Willow and Julian and Charlie were still here, so she didn’t know for sure that that hadn’t changed, too. She honestly didn’t know how to feel about all that, or what to think about it. She knew that there was no way in which it really mattered what she thought or felt, she was, well, just a third-year girl, but she felt as if she should at least know it.

As the food appeared, she took a few things, then started a little in her seat when the girl beside her – one of the first years, she realized, with another, smaller jolt of surprise – asked for chives. “Of course,” she said, offering the desired bowl. “You’re new here, right? I’m Gemma – Gemma Bennett, third year. Welcome to Teppenpaw!” she introduced herself, with something of her usual enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’ll like it here,” she added reassuringly, since she was sure starting at school had to be at least a little scary, even if the other girl knew this was the nice House - a fact for which Gemma had been grateful in her first year and ever since. Maybe some of her Housemates could have been all right anywhere, but Gemma was sure that, in the politics of Aladren or Crotalus, she wouldn't have lasted a day.
0 Gemma Bennett The welcoming committee has arrived 251 Gemma Bennett 0 5

Serena

October 18, 2013 12:14 AM
Serena was trying to cover up the fact that she was a little nervous. Being in Teppenpaw helped some, being surrounded by nice people and even in another house, she knew she would have had someone looking out for her. Even Amity wasn't too lazy to do that. Still, she didn't want others to see her as weak, as easy prey. Even though she was in Teppenpaw, people in other houses could be sizing her up. Even the Teppenpaws could be. They could be at this moment trying to figure out if she was from the right sort of family and that could be good or bad depending on exactly who it was that was thinking about it.

But she couldn't help who she was either and she was sure there were other nervous first years among them. Though her impression of most of the ones she'd seen seemed pretty confident. At least Serena didn't have to worry about homesickness. She had her cousins here looking out for her. Of course, she also had one cousin who would be dead set on making her miserable. Unless Carrie found someone else to torture. While the first year wouldn't wish that on anyone, it was, well, better them than her and her sister through her..

Sometimes, Serena wished she could be more like her sister, tougher and stronger than she herself was. The thing was though, that the blonde didn't need to be like Arabella...because she had Arabella. Even in separate houses, the sixth year was still going to be there, protecting her. And she'd have Duncan the entire time and Tristan for most of it. Eventually though, she might have to step up and protect the younger ones like Kelsey, Kira and her brother. Serena didn't really Fabian or Kelsey needing protection from anyone though and she didn't know if Fabian, being a boy, would appreciate it. And Kelsey was sure to fall seemlessly into whatever group of high society proper pureblood girls happened to be in her year. Kira, on the other hand, seemed more insecure, and Serena owed it to Tristan to look out for her. On the plus side, Carrie would be graduated and gone by then.

Besides, the first year was more the type who could take care of someone by listening to them or comforting them when they were upset then the sort who could hex the living daylights out of them. Or would have that sort of nerve. In fact, the idea of doing so made her a little squeamish, she didn't expect to be very good at Defense. Or enjoy it. Arabella had done quite well on it on her CATS and Serena also knew it to be one of Tristan's better subjects. She herself at least expected to be good at Transfiguration like the rest of her family. She'd be ashamed not to whereas Defense wasn't as big of a deal to them. Well, to the family in general, Arabella felt that members of their particular group needed it. Serena hoped not to be one of them.

"Thank you." The first year said to the older girl who passed her the dish of chives. She took a spoon and sprinkled them over her potato, this was just the way she liked them. She probably should have a main dish too. Fortunately, some homemade macaroni and cheese was nearby. Serena wondered if it was as good as what the elves at home made. She supposed this was going to be actually school made macaroni and cheese. Still it was one of her favorite dishes.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm a first year. I am Serena Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts." Then the other girl's name caught her attention. "Gemma Bennett? Are you Paul's sister?" She knew her future brother in law had had a sister in Ryan's year and house group and that he had some other siblings but she didn't remember their names other than the older one, Eliza and there was supposed to be one around her age.
11 Serena Getting the inevitable question out of the way. 272 Serena 0 5


Gemma

October 18, 2013 5:18 AM
Gemma looked up from putting together a salad for herself as soon as the new girl's last name hit her, which turned out, she thought, to be the same moment hers hit Serena. She smiled as she nodded, trailing lettuce from the salad tongs as she far less than half-attentively moved what she had been picking up from the bowl to her plate.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "One of them, anyway - there's two of us, but Eliza's not here now. One of my other brothers is in your year, too - Leo, he was just Sorted into Aladren, I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Don't take him too seriously, he does that enough himself," she joked. She loved Leo, of course, he was her brother, but he really did take everything a little too seriously, and himself, she thought, more than most things. She knew he had a sense of humor somewhere in there, every now and again it slipped past him, but he usually refused to use it, acting as though he were a particularly stuffy family's heir. 

Though, of course, he could end up their family's heir, anyway, if for some reason it was decided, or he decided himself, that Paul wasn't suited for it, or they could end up splitting duties, or who knew what. It was all just about what was best for everyone, what would get them ahead. Even she, though, knew she ought not mention that.

"I'm sure you're related to Arabella?" she asked, feeling a great fool for not yet knowing her future sister-in-law's family tree. It was just so huge, but surely Serena must have been a fairly close relative, for Paul to come to mind so soon...."Oh! I think Paul said she has a sister, too - is that you? I'm sorry I don't know, I'm not very good with all the family trees." She couldn't begin to sort how much of the student body was connected, which was another reason for being glad to be in the House where that seemed to matter least.
0 Gemma Answering it 0 Gemma 0 5