She sees the school for the first time on her daughter's last day, and on a late June afternoon, with a crowd around, Sheila Hutton does not see much. The halls are locked and the classrooms disassembled. The teachers are indistinguishable from the parents, all in familiar conversation with neighbors and friends. Hutton, the stranger from Washington, takes in what she can as she finds a seat in the gymnasium. Purple banners herald the athletic championships the high school has won. Shimmery silver balloons bob on their tethers. The place already is packed.Via Joanne Jacobs Maria Glod's High Achiever's Leaving Schools Behind is also well worth reading. Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 12, 2004 04:51 PM | TrackBackIn this faraway dot on a New Hampshire map -- a rural curve in the road, nearly to Canada -- her daughter is graduating. Hutton scans the program listing the 37 members of the Groveton High Class of '04. About halfway down the names, after Holmes, before Karl: Michelle Teresa Hutton, a girl with bubbly charm and a Pepsodent smile.