I've always been an advocate of change. I believe it's when the "boat gets rocked" that we find ourselves sprouting our 'sea legs' and getting stronger. When I married my husband he came with the idea that "when you're uncomfortable, that's when you grow." For these reasons, I've never been afraid of the change that comes with being a teacher. New kids each year (imagine replacing your
own children after you just get them trained and making progress - kind of lame), new teams, new administrators, and in my career, new schools. I started in 1st grade at Mill Creek, then got the opportunity to move to a school with a 'real auditorium' - on to 6th grade at Lincoln Elementary - a possible change in moving to California - and then a decision to stay, and a move to 3rd grade. Then my principal got a "promotion" (if those exist in education) and I had the chance to move to William Penn (I took the job on the agreement that I would be teaching Kindergarten and 5th Grade, hmm, how would that have worked?). I've been at Penn for 6 years, teaching 5th grade. My love of change, causes me to crave more of it. I'm always looking for a new project, new curriculum, new something that I can reinvent and make into a fancy spreadsheet.
This May, change arrived at our doorstep. Art was laid off. They fired everyone on the Apple team while Apple reassessed their schedule, they told him he would probably be hired back,
probably. So we started looking for work, and as I was flipping through the ads one day I saw an ad for a teaching position at
Edith Bowen Lab School. This is a school I've been coveting for years (it doesn't say you can't covet your neighbors school). It's an amazing lab/charter school under the umbrella of Utah State University - yup, Logan. I love Logan, always have, always wanted to live there. In all my years of coveting I've never seen a position open up - we talked, we debated, I applied, we put the house on the market, we waited. I went and interviewed (7 person panel, 1 1/2 hours - yikes!) The second to last day of school I found out. I wasn't 2nd grade teacher material. (true that) I was bummed, but stoked to still be at Penn and still be working with the greatest team ever. So I moved on.... but we didn't take the house off the market.
Today I got phone call.
A position had opened up at Edith Bowen, and they had thought of me. It's not a normal teaching position. It's an Interventionist working with all grade levels, a facilitator for a pilot program from the university, and someone to build a leveled book program for the school. It's different. It's a change, so I took it. I will get to work with kids at all levels. I will get to know all the teachers. I will be working with the University in piloting a program. I will be in Logan, at Edith Bowen, and Art, will get to go to school. It's a good change.
Sure, I am leaving the greatest school in the Salt Lake Valley. I am leaving dear friends, who I will truly miss every day. I will be shy, and new, and probably uncomfortable, and then I will grow.
(PS - Art got hired back at Fetzers after 4 weeks off. 4 Weeks, just enough time to finish all the little projects that were preventing us from selling the house. Sometimes change
needs to come.)
