Group Project

Greetings, readers! Last week, we looked at The Lazy Townspeople. This week I'm writing a modern version of that story. This week also wraps up Black History Month, but never fear. I'll come back to African fairy tales again.

With more people, sometimes this is your finished product.

When the teacher announced a group project, Bill tried not to groan. All he learned from group projects was how to do the work of several people by himself. They were supposed to create a poster and presentation about a disease. "Science class sure is fun," Bill thought as the teacher gave them time to sort themselves into groups.

Bill ended up in a group with two of his friends and another kid he had talked to a few times. At least he'd have fun in this group. It would have been easier to start planning their project if Bill hadn't been coughing so much. He'd been feeling crummy for a few days, but it didn't seem to be anything serious. He made a joke about doing their project on having a cold. However, they decided on strep throat. It was common and people didn't die from it, so it should be fairly easy to do. They made plans to meet at Crystal's house, one of his friends in the group, and then the bell rang.

The next day, Bill could barely get out of bed. He was so cold. His mom took one look at him and decided they were going to the doctor. Bill went back to bed while his mom made the appointment. Bill had started some of the research for his project the night before and before he went back to bed, he started to wonder if he had strep throat.

Once they went to the doctor, it turned out Bill did have strep throat. He started laughing and it took him a bit before he could explain the joke to his mom. While they were waiting for his pills at the pharmacy, Bill texted his group that he was going to be out for a few days. Bill was a little worried the project wouldn't get done. He liked his friends, but they were pretty lazy. Once he got home, he emailed them the research he had started doing.

The days passed slowly. Bill's fever got a bit better, but he still felt pretty awful. It would have been nice to lay on the couch and watch TV if he hadn't been feeling so sick. Occasionally, his friends in the group for his science project would text him and ask if he could put a poster together. Bill had to tell them no, but he got more and more worried about their grade. Maybe he could redo it since he'd been too sick to help much.

Bill got better with a few days left before their project was due. They all met at Crystal's house to go over what they had. The kid Bill didn't know as well, Tina, showed up with a great poster. Bill was flabbergasted.

"We used the research you sent us," Tina said. "I made the poster and Crystal and Louis wrote the presentation."

"You did?" Bill asked, turning to them.

"Yeah," Crystal replied. "It wasn't that hard."

Relieved, Bill suggested they go over their presentation a couple of times.

The day came to present in class, and Bill answered everyone's questions very well, since he'd had the disease they were presenting on. Personally, he thought they had the best presentation and poster. He just hoped that he could partner with Tina in the future. It was nice to work with someone who wasn't so lazy.