Last Thursday evening I attended an event at Perry High School. I hadn’t been on a high school campus in a long time. It felt odd. I wasn’t there as a parent, PTO member, classroom teacher, administrator, counselor, club advisor or in any other capacity. Just a local supporter of the closest high school to my house.

It brought back those hundreds of nights I spent at meetings, presentations, graduations, football games, basketball and baseball games, theater productions, dance, band, orchestra and vocal performances, meet the teacher nights, awards events, and the list goes on.

It felt so familiar. The exuberant high pitched energy of high school students, the blaring music, the spontaneous line dancing, the carnival atmosphere, the balloon and banner decorations in the cafeteria, the food vendors, the haunted house, and the girls following boys and boys following girls around the campus.

I also remembered all the nights at my kids’ high school as a parent, all the events I led as a PTO officer, the many carnivals and fund raisers and early morning drop-offs and late night pick-ups. How did life pass so quickly? I asked myself. It was only yesterday that I was involved at an intimate level with campus life — not just a spectator. Only it wasn’t …

I am glad to hand over the gauntlet to younger parents and to young educators, but I’d also love to have some of those evenings back — to enjoy them just a little bit more. I felt a little like Marty McFly that night. I wanted a magical car to take me back for a few more hours.