No Talking Read Online Free Page A

tall woman with a long face, curly gray hair, and bright blue eyes, and she had been the principal at Laketon Elementary School for the past thirteen years.
    She gave careful orders, set precise goals, and she demanded results from her teachers, from her office staff, from her custodians, from her cafeteria workers, and from her students and their parents, too. Her school never went over its budget, never missed its academic targets, and the place never felt loose or sloppy or disorderly.
    Under Mrs. Hiatt’s watchful eye, group after group of children had wandered into Laketon Elementary School as aimless little kindergartners and marched out six years later as perfectly disciplined young students. Under Mrs. Hiatt’s leadership, the place ran like clockwork.
    And then the Unshushables came along. In all her years as principal she had never known a group of kids like this.
    And for the past five years, Mrs. Hiatt had been trying to make these kids obey the simplest school rule of all: no talking—except when it’s allowed.
    Year after year, memos had been sent home to the parents of Dave and his classmates about too much shouting on the school buses.
    Year after year, Dave’s grade had been told how to behave before every assembly.
    Year after year, all their teachers had stood out in the hallways to try to keep the noise down before and after school, and especially at lunchtime.
    This group had even been given a separate lunch period for the past three years in a row: third-grade lunch, fourth-grade lunch, and this year, fifth-grade lunch. Mrs. Hiatt had made that decision. She didn’t want the noisy behavior of this group to infect the other children at her school. Because year after year, the Unshushables lived up to their nickname.
    To be honest, a few of this year’s fifth-grade teachers had already given up.They didn’t have any real hope of changing these kids.They were just trying to cope. Because it was already November, so in
    six short months the Unshushables would be gone forever, moved along to the junior high, and next year Laketon Elementary School would be quieter. Much quieter.
    But Mrs. Hiatt had not given up, not by a long shot. She still had over half a year with these kids, and she intended to use that time.
    Every day the principal stalked the fifth-grade hall.“ You there —stop shouting!”
    At every assembly, she glared. “And I don’t want to hear even a whisper from our fifth graders, is that clear?”
    At every fifth-grade lunch, she walked around the cafeteria with a big red plastic bullhorn, and when the noise became unbearable, she pulled the trigger and bellowed, “STUDENTS! YOU ARE TALKING TOO LOUD!”
    Mrs. Hiatt felt sure that this constant reminding had to be having an effect on these kids . . . how could it not? After all, these were good kids . . . right? They had to be making progress . . . didn’t they?
    She knew she was being very stern with them, but it was for their own good. And Mrs. Hiatt felt sure that sooner or later, these kids would grow up a little—and quiet down a lot.



• • •
    And now it’s time to tell what happened in the middle of the second Tuesday in November during Dave Packer’s final year at Laketon Elementary School.
    It was two minutes before fifth-grade lunch, and the principal was ready, just like always. Mrs. Hiatt had checked to be sure that the other teacher who had fifth-grade lunch duty wasn’t out sick or at a meeting. Because it wasn’t good to try to manage fifth-grade lunch all by yourself.
    And, just like always, she had ordered Mr. Lipton, the custodian, to stay in the cafeteria today until 12:40. Because with this group, the more grown-ups around, the better.
    And Mrs. Hiatt had double-checked the batteries in her red plastic bullhorn. Because it wasn’t good to have a dead bullhorn during fifth-grade lunch.
    Then the bell rang, and as