Plymouth Teacher’s Enthusiasm Already Depleted by Travis

Following a relaxing and rejuvenating summer, Plymouth middle school teacher Sarah Schroeder entered the school-year with newfound enthusiasm which was quickly drained and consumed by Travis McColmbs, a student in her class with a capacity for emotional manipulation far beyond his years. 

“I was so excited for the year. I was assigned a new room: the one with better natural light. And I bought new decorations for the kids!” Ms. Schroeder recounted, referring to the classroom materials she paid for out-of-pocket, “But then he walked in, asked why I wasn’t married, and started scream-quoting his favorite memes. All that hope was immediately gone.” 

Travis’ preoccupation with consistently calling out Ms. Schroeder’s deepest insecurities with extreme accuracy and running, essentially, a child fight club from her classroom has caused Ms. Schroeder to routinely abandon carefully crafted lesson plans. Instead, she often dedicates entire school days to failed efforts at managing Travis who uses his charismatic personality to influence classmates into doing his bidding, which often includes punching his enemies in the crotch and stealing extra chocolate milk from the cafeteria.

With only a month of the school year done, Ms. Schroeder has already reached her limit on Travis’ classroom antics and general disregard for both his classmates and authority. 

“He just never stops; I think he’s somehow harvesting my energy and using it for himself,” the now broken middle school teacher speculated.

Travis often incites chaos by leading aggressive chants designed to orchestrate a coup d’état rather than learn math, science, and English, subjects the middle schooler has labeled “pointless” and “dumber than your mom.”

The smug tween’s ability to simultaneously hone in on Ms. Schroder’s vulnerabilities and inspire a sense of anarchy in every student  has impacted the 5th year teacher’s quality of life and emotional well being, with friends of Ms. Schroeder reporting increased alcohol consumption and reckless behavior showing an indifference for her own safety.