It was a rich school year. We got those six or nine classes of little green ones (who'd start the vocational training all three years, not general education for two and then all the trade in one year, like the current generations did); two classes of oil riggers and one of RGM (which will repeat the following years as well). The RGM (aka the regiment) were "rukovaoci građevinskim mašinama", the handlers of construction machines, which was the politically correct term at the time, don't you dare call them cranists. The colleagues who taught the so-called trade technologies, ie. the specifics of locksmithing, latheing, grinding etc, were already rubbing their hands, as they'd score a lot on the number of programmes they'd teach. A neighbor of mine, some Sale Zauški, not too smart but nimble, had finished the viša (and never finished his house; and the parent's house, one of the five between Đuđa and Učubić, still didn't fall, qualifies as a miracle) - well this guy was quite happy to teach seven subjects. On top of that, some classes had to be split, because half of them would be welders and the others grinderists (no, colleague, they aren't grinders, they don't do the grinding themselves, they have machines to do that), and two guys would have a class at the same time for each half. Then there was a regathering of smaller groups - there were two hungarian language classes, which would have three trades each, and they'd have to sit with a same trade group from some other class... even when they weren't in the same shift.
For this shift the schedule was to be done by Brane Simonović and me. It amused him to be, after several years of principaling, back in the trenches. So the two mathematicians sat, and looked at the spread of staff over curricula. Didn't know where to start - to pull our hairs or beards. This is unfeasible, the schedule for Sale Zauški cannot be made. Unless he's in two places at the same time at least twice a week, and one class is held twice, for each of the half-groups which can't meet. We concluded that we still have five days to go, and should return the spread to be redone in a simpler way. Meanwhile, let's build a constructive proof of unfeasibility under this distribution, and present it to the chief of staff and principal.
The result was unexpected: we made it possible. Constructively proven to be possible, because it worked. Thouh, Sale's classes were in three zones - the preclass and 1st in the morning, the shift shift time, and evening. Four times a week he had to come to work twice, or sit for good three hours between his zones, his choice.
He didn't complain at all - working across shifts scored extra, so he was happy. We completed the schedule, published it and everyone was happy and satisfied.
Mind you, I didn't use the big Robin Hood switchboard style panel that I used last year (and probably so did everybody since the school was founded). It was huge, 150x170cm, on its own easel. The distance between the holes was about 30mm, and the pegs were 25mm in diameter, all too large. And it was in the other building, so I wouldn't be able to communicate with Brane. Instead, I had the house carpenter make me a smaller one, with same number of holes, altogether about 80x60 cm, with smaller holes distanced about 12mm, and for pegs I used what came with a toy called pika-slika, which is where you made pictures out of those colored plastic pegs. So I used red for third grade, blue for fourth, and green for the little green ones. I painted it black and varnished, so the the paper with the list of names to the left of the holes held fine. That I could even take home, which I actually did for a while and then took back to school for the last year.
And then that thirtieth came, when the (re)unification party was held. Lots of people actually knew each other from before - the oours were introduced by ZUR (Zakon o udruženom radu, the associated labor law) by end of 1976, so oourization didn't reach the schools before, I'd say, 1978. Even for just so few years, there was throughput, people came and went, and perhaps a quarter of each half staff knew very few from the other half. So a party where they'd get to know each other was really necessary.
It was a party and a half, indeed. Lots of us were in high spirits, several really drunk. The toilets being on the far end of a long hall, at some point someone took my bicycle and promoted it into the toilet line transportation. It made a few rounds forth and back.
We were ready for the new school year.
6-V-2021 - 27-II-2025