Donte Halstead

PTC pt2

Jays pov
I can't believe what happened today. How did I not know that he was having panic attacks? How didn't I realise he was still grieving?
Hank: Jay
Hank called me into his office
Hank: how was Donte today?
I gave him the report and he shook his head.
Hank: this is probably the worst one he's got.
Jay: I know. He's still not over Rebeccas death.
Hank: what do you mean?
Jay: in one of his lesson today it triggered the memory and he had a panic attack and passed out.
Hank: damn
Jay: I know. I don't know what to do
Hank: maybe get him to talk to Dr Charles.
Jay: he won't
Hank: then let him choose who to talk to. Whether it's me, you, Will, Connor, Kelly. Someone he feels comfortable with
Jay: I guess. Hey sarge me and Antonio have the parent teacher thing today can we take a personal?
Hank: sure. Lemme know how it goes.
Jay: thanks sarge
I made my way to the bullpen
Jay: hey Antonio, let's go
We went to the break room to get the boys.
Jay: come on boys let's go
Diego: we're going together?
Antonio: I don't see why not
We all got in my car and made our way to the school.
Jay: please tell me I'm gonna hear good news at this parent teacher thing tonight.
Donte: depends on how you define good news
Jay: I define it as you getting straight As with no behavioural issues
Donte: you might wanna rethink that definition
Jay: enough said
Antonio and Diego were just laughing
Donte: oh dad Mr Chambers and Miss Jackson wants to speak to you
Jay: what have you done?
Donte: nothing. I think it's something good because he was actually being nice to me
Jay: oh Jesus pray for me
Donte: your so overdramatic dad
Everyone laughed at the Halstead duo
We arrived at the school and walked through the entrance.
Donte: imma go play basketball
Jay: okay. You need to be at Mr Chambers one tho
Donte: okay call me when your finished

I went to maths first. Mrs Boden. I knew it wouldn't be that bad as we all know each other outside of school.
Mrs Boden: evening Jay
Jay: hi Donna, how are you?
Mrs Boden: I'm good thanks Jay
Jay: so how's he been
Mrs Boden: he's doing a lot better than last year. Dontes now beginning to ask for help instead of just sitting there frustrated and eventually walking out. He has his good days and bad days. He does try his best with the work. He does however need to learn to keep his hands to himself. He does sometimes walk around the class and often hit Diego or other students. Donte still has great difficulty concentrating and avoiding distractions.
Jay: yeah I know he's the same at home especially with the hands to himself. He is always starting on Liam. I've noticed that he does try to control his frustration a lot more now. The concentration I've noticed. His meds seem to not work so i may have to get the dosage adjusted.
Mrs Boden: that may be necessary as it is affecting him and others. I'll update you weekly on his progress. I see his plan still hasn't been updated
Jay: yeah I actually need to speak to Miss Jackson about that
Mrs Boden: okay because at the moment the accommodations in place aren't helping him which is having a negative effect on his grades and learning
Jay: okay I'll sort it.
Mrs Boden: I'll see you later

Next was Science.
???: hi I'm Mr Mead Dontes science teacher
Jay: Jay Halstead
We shook hands and sat down.
Mr Mead: so Donte. I have to say I do enjoy having him in my class. It's never a dull day when Dontes around. When we're doing something that interests him then he is motivated and will do all work to his best effort but if he finds it boring then it is a struggle to even get him started. Like today he had no interest in the lesson and was being disruptive and distracted. The main thing he has to work on is thinking before he speaks.
Jay: I know he's always struggled with that but we've been trying to work on it.
Mr Mead: what can I do to make the lessons more engaging for him?
Jay: erm maybe make it more interactive like using kahoot or group work instead of just talking for the whole lesson. He does like competition so if you include a prize it might make him engage more as he'll want to win
Mr Mead: okay I'll give it a try next lesson
Jay: thank you

Next was English
???: Hi I'm Mr Davies
Jay: Jay halstead
Mr Davies: right so Donte he's a great kid. He can be very energetic which isn't necessarily a bad thing but sometimes it leads to him being disruptive. I know that he struggles with English and it's quite evident in his work. His reading has slightly improved but he still struggles with the writing aspect. He's till not at the level he should be but I'll continue to work with him. When it comes to writing he knows what he wants to say but when he goes to write it his mind goes blank. Does he get help with his homework?
Jay: yeah is that a problem?
Mr Davies: well it's clear that he didn't do it by himself especially the one I recently set
Jay: well you told him that if it wasn't finished then he'd have a detention. And what's with it being handed in the next day? It was too much for him.
Mr Davies: it's because he didn't finish it in the lesson
Jay: he got so frustrated that I had to tell him to take a break. He tried to read it but he said that everything was jumbled up into a huge mess. The overlay didn't help him and he found that there was too much work which resulted in him getting overwhelmed. You don't see what I do. You just see a kid with behavioural problems acting up.
Mr Davies: I know he struggles there's not much I can do. Without the plan being updated I can't give his correct accommodations.

I got up and left and went to Coach
Coach: Mr Halstead
Jay: call me Jay.
Coach: alright Jay. So Donte he's an amazing kid. He has incredible sporting ability. Jay they're trying to make me ban him from playing because of his grades.
Jay: but this is his main outlet
Coach: I understand which is why I'm fighting for him. I can see how sports helps him. How it helps him channel his energy. When he's playing he's different. He's focused. He's motivated. If he gets his grades up to mainly passes he'll be able to play varsity. For the time being he'll be playing junior varsity.
Jay: is varsity not for juniors and seniors?
Coach: yeah but Junior Varsity is too easy for Donte it's not challenging enough. He is extremely talented and easily the best player on the team. You've seen it in both soccer and basketball. He is easily the best player on the field and court. I feel like playing with the older boys will give him the challenge he needs and help him improve. I'll be working with him to help him be ready for the physical and psychological effects of varsity. He has such raw talent and in my opinion he can easily get into a d1 college.
Jay: thanks for being the only teacher to understand him. He always tells me how you look out for him and believe in him. Donte is always excited for practice and matches. Sports is the only thing that he's stuck to and it helps his ADHD massively. It's his outlet. It's the one thing that he is good at and it's his way out of here. We all know that the education system fails kids like him.
Coach: I know. I'll keep working with him and I'll catch up with you soon
We shook hands and it was now time to talk to Mr Chambers and Miss Jackson.
I rang Donte and he met me at the office.

Donte pov
Mr Chambers: Mr Halstead, Donte please take a seat. So we just want to talk about how your finding it so far.
Donte: it's alright I guess
Miss Jackson: how are you finding the transition to high school?
Donte: fine but the work is a lot harder tho
Miss Jackson: in what way?
Donte: erm there's a lot more to do and most of the time it doesn't make sense
Miss Jackson: do you ask for help?
Donte: yeah but most of the time they describe it in the same way as they did before so it doesn't really help.
Miss Jackson: okay
Mr Chambers: What are you enjoying about school?
Donte: sports
Mr Chambers: I hear your very talented
Donte: I try my best
Mr Chambers: very humble I see. Donte we need to work together to get your grades up cause at the moment your failing all your classes.
Donte: okay
Dad: so when are we gonna update his plan
Miss Jackson: we can have a meeting on Friday and that would allow for the plan to be created and take action at the beginning of the second semester
Dad: yeah that's fine. Time?
Miss Jackson: 4pm?
Dad: sure
We said our byes and left. We met Antonio and Diego in the parking lot
Diego: so how was it?
Donte: I don't know I only went to Mr chambers and Miss Jackson.
Diego: oh how did it go?
Donte: it was alright they were just asking how I was finding it
Diego: that's cool
We put our AirPod's in and listened to music. We dropped them home then went home.