My New Favorite Euphemism and Acronym

Today I visited an alternative high school in Virginia. I showed up with a colleague and walked into the high school office and asked for the program director. After not finding him in the lab where we were directed, we asked another teacher who then kindly pointed to the door and said, “Mr. Roy is outside in the second learning cottage on the right.” Learning cottage? Oh, you mean those trailers outside? Nice. My new favorite euphemism.

And my new favorite acronym? It’s the abbreviation for the Virginia state education standards. They are called the Standards of Learning. SOL. Seriously. Oh, to teleport back to the meeting where they chose that name. I wonder how many people were sitting in the back of the room snickering violently as they doodled the initials on a piece of paper.