Slice of Life: A New Chapter

 

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.

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Seven years ago this past May, I was hired by Principal Laura Williams to be a fourth grade teacher at Minges Brook Elementary. My wife and I had just had a baby, so finding out that I had a “real job” was one of the most exciting days of my life.

The six school years that I have spent at Minges Brook Elementary have been the best 6 years of my life. During the last six years: my wife and I brought two children into the world, I saw my wife complete an Ironman, I joined Twitter, helped start the Nerdy Book Club, and I grew tremendously as a teacher.

I have so much more to learn as a teacher, but that learning will not take place at Minges Brook Elementary. Last week I was offered an interview for a job that I was not seeking. I had every intention of teaching the next 30 years at Minges Brook Elementary. When I was asked if I would be interesting in interviewing my curiosity got the best of me. You see, the school that reached out to me is the school that I attended as a child. It is the school that I walked to every single day from kindergarten to fifth grade. It is a school that I can see my parents’ house from. Parma Elementary, the school, is home.

After interviewing on Thursday, I decided that if I was offered the job I would turn it down. The school seemed great, but I just coudn’t see myself leaving Minges Brook Elementary. I was offered the job later that day, and I decided that I would like to chat more with the principal before making a decision. After touring the school, and chatting with the principal for 90 minutes I was leaning towards taking the job.

On Friday morning I met with the district superintendent to discuss the job. We chatted for over an hour, and I had a good feeling in my gut about the direction the district would like to head. I felt that I had a lot to offer the district that helped make me the man I am today.

I took the job.

I thought that the hardest part about taking the job would be leaving the students. Minges Brook Elementary is a K-4 building, so my fourth graders always left at the end of the year and went to the middle school. I will still miss them stopping by and checking out books, and I will miss the families and the younger siblings that I was planning on teaching. However, the thing that has been the hardest is saying goodbye to my colleagues. I am going to miss everyone. I could go on and on in this post about what they have meant to me both personally and professionally, but I am sure that everyone reading this blog post understands the bond that you create with your team.

As I begin this new chapter in my life, I’d like to thank all of you that have helped me become the teacher that I am today. Without you and your support I am sure that I never would have gotten myself to a place where someone would call me and ask if I would like to interview.

Thank you.