After no school on Monday or Tuesday due the the weekend’s thunderstorm, JCPS schools have finally started the school year. It wasn’t until Monday night that I realized something very important. This is the first year since 1998 that I have not been associated with JCPS.
From 1998-2003 I taught first grade at Hawthorne Elementary School. It was such an amazing feeling to see the ‘light’ come on when kids realized they could read. We created our own classroom community and I loved helping them reach their fullest potential.
From there I was at Cochran Elementary School as their Math Coach. I tried to make learning math both fun and memorable for both the teachers and students. We would do whole school aerobics in the gym every Friday and it was a blessing to be able to work with each classroom in the school.
In 2005, I left teaching to be a UniServ Director at JCTA. In that role, I served as the union rep for teachers as was often the person they called when times got tough. In a nutshell, if there was a problem or something bad happened, I was called. Although I enjoyed the flexibility of the job and the teachers and my colleagues, I hated what I did and really hated all of the politics and backstabbing associated with it.
Although I miss working with kids and making that direct influence in their lives, I’ve found my passion with helping people in fitness and meeting their weight loss goals. Over the summer I did fitness with some youth groups and that was just the perfect combination! I’m hoping to do some fitness activities in some elementary schools this year.
As we enter a new school year, I want to once again share my favorite teaching memory. The student’s name is Cortney and we were at our 1st grade awards ceremony. Her mother passed away from cancer earlier that month and she was sad that she wasn’t at the ceremony. The irony of the video is that it was taken the day before I found out that my own mother had ovarian cancer. This video reminds me how fragile all of us are and the importance of being there for one another.
August 2011
| Teacher Making A Difference |
MYT is Me! 