My office just instituted a dress code, which means that after 7 years of dressing down, that era is over. It’s not that big a deal, but was the last piece of my orginal job description from Duff that remained: “You don’t have to be in before 9 AM, you don’t have to get dressed up, and at 5 PM, you can go home and you don’t have to take the work with you.”

That’s how Duff lured me to LEARN NC for that first year instead of teaching. So yeah, I clung to that a little bit, because I’ve always kinda felt like those original three promises he made kept the job from seeming corporate, cold, and soul-sucking. I’ve always thought the concept of “casual Fridays” was one of the most demeaning trends in business… and now it applies. Yuck.

Still, if I have learned one thing from studying public schools, it’s that the institution of a dress code means that I am less likely to be shot or hit on by a co-worker. And we won’t have nearly as much gang activity in the cubicles. Thank heavens.

Jess sent me these two pictures from the LEARN NC retreat on Wednesday afternoon.

Corey gets down to work– identifying with the average state student’s need for a hug.

Kirk offered lots of feedback during the meeting. According to him, the best way to improve NC schools is to feed him.