Well, at least kind of.

Apparently, the classrooms weren't exactly overflowing with students because they were given the option to come back, or remain ensconced at home continuing with their farcical virtual on-line education that has been a disaster because so many have chosen to ignore it.

I mean, if it's between paying attention to a teacher on a zoom hookup ruminating on algebra and the literary virtues of Edgar Allen Poe and Robert Frost, or engaging in video games like MineCraft Grand Theft Auto V, or Spider-Man, you certainly can understand what choice most teenagers have been making the past year.

One of the seniors who made an appearance at Wilson High Monday was one of the valedictorians of the school, Mr. Tommy O'Toole, who proudly carries a 4.67 GPA (nothing lower than an A in four years) and who's soon expected to wind up in the Guinness Book of World Records for an epic accomplishment last Saturday unequalled in the approximate 200,000-year existence of humankind.

Not one person during this lengthy span even has come close to what the 18-year-old O'Toole did.

First off at 11 a.m. on that historical April 17th day, Tommy O'Toole could be found on the mound at Skip Rowland Field as the Wilson High starting pitcher against Canyon High of Anaheim.

Tommy O’Toole pitching for Wilson High last Saturday against Canyon High of Anaheim

He worked three innings, holding the opposition scoreless during the first two and then faltering a bit in the third when a couple of successful bunts, of all things, conspired against him.

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The game was over around 1 o'clock, and Tommy O'Toole quickly devoured a burrito he got from the snack shack, and then, still wearing his baseball uniform, drove off to Anaheim where Wilson was set to play a basketball game against Servite.

Tommy O’Toole playing basketball last Saturday for Wilson High against Servite

The 6-2 1/2-O'Toole, a starting power forward on the Bruins' team, quickly went to the locker room and changed into his basketball togs, made it to the bench for the 2 p.m. tipoff, and wound up playing 27 minutes in a losing effort against the Friars.

He then headed back to his family home in Long Beach to get ready for still another sporting assignment---performing gondolier duties on four one-hour cruises.

Tommy O’Toole performing gondolier duties last Saturday on the Naples canal

He showered and then ate a fried chicken sandwich prepared by his father, Big Mike O'Toole, owner of the popular Naples Gondola Getaway, and then was out the door for his first appointment at 6.

Tommy O’Toole finishing up late last Saturday night.

Blessedly, it was canceled, and this gave Tommy O'Toole an opportunity to catch his breath. ``I must admit I was pretty physically drained at the time,'' he says.

But it didn't stop young Mr. O'Toole from expending considerable energy the rest of the windy evening, as he rowed three cruises around the Naples canals with such grace and elan that he wound up earning 65 dollars in tips.

``I was totally spent at the end of the night,'' he says.

So what does an 18-year-old athlete do for a culinary outlet before heading back home to watch SportsCenter and Netflix flicks?

``I went to In-N-Out and ordered a triple burger with fries and a Coke,'' he says.

Quite appropriate since, well, in the stirring parlance of sporting jargon, Tommy O'Toole had just consummated his own unique version of the hat trick, a term used in soccer and hockey when a player scores three goals.

While Mr. O'Toole didn't score any goals, he did in one magical 12-hour period participate in three different sporting endeavors that no other person, as far as can be determined, ever has done before on the same day on the planet Earth.

``I'm sure a lot of men and women have played in two different sanctioned athletic games in one day, but you can be certain none later worked as a gondolier the same day,'' says Big Mike O'Toole, who already has sent off an applicant information to the Guinness Book of World Records on behalf of his son.

Tommy O'Toole admits the past year of being kept from attending Wilson High has been difficult to endure.

``I feel like we students have been cheated,'' he says. ``The overreach by our administrators has been frightening, to say the least. We've been deprived of so much---our baseball season wiped out last spring, our socialization with one another wiped out, our senior memories wiped out. Why? I understand we have Covid-19. I also understand it hasn't exactly overwhelmed kids my age.''

Touche!

Jill Baker and her like-minded extremists still have in place stringent rules for the long-beleaguered Long Beach students.

Yes, Tommy O'Toole went to school Monday, but was restricted to but three classes (Advanced Placement Research, AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus) with an average of just nine kids in attendance at each.

It's even worse at the LB elementary schools, where the kids can attend for a mere two and a half hours daily.

Jill Baker has given new meaning to the old cliche ``throwing people a bone.''

And, of course, none of the kids can participate with one another in playground activities which defies all sane calculations, even the insane lockdown ones instituted during The Great Pandemic.

Jill Baker should be ashamed of herself for the developmental damage she has caused---and still is causing---to thousands of Long Beach students.

Incidentally, Tommy O'Toole won't be allowed to attend Wilson on Tuesday because another segment of students---known as Group B---will be on hand.

But, yippee, he will be allowed back on the Wilson campus Wednesday and Friday.

I swear if the Guinness Book of World Records ever includes an entry for educational malfeasance, Ms. Baker would be a charter member.

Anyway, Tommy O'Toole has received lucrative scholarship offers from TCU and Pepperdine and also has been accepted by UC Irvine, UC Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Long Beach State and San Diego State.

This Valedictorian sign is in front of Tommy O'Toole's house in Naples.

Incredibly, despite his impeccable grades, despite his being a two-sport athlete, despite his being active in various school activities, he is being wait-listed at UCSB and UCLA and he actually has been turned down by USC, which had been a lifelong dream of his to attend the alma mater of his father.

I can't figure that one out, but I can't figure out a lot that goes on in academia these days with so many people like Jill Baker around polluting it.

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