a + bi

     About a week after Kelvin was named Headmaster at Strider, he was itching to get me there to teach. At first he said that I would be unable to live on campus, but I didn't know that in a few weeks Pat and I had to return to Grenada. As she resigned from Sitel, I also had to keep working at Sprint Mart once we moved. I thought this would work out, but how things ended up at Strider and the attitudes of Sprint Mart management in Grenada put a quick end to that.      The only apprehension I felt after talking to Kelvin was that there were still board members still present from the Bradshaw regime that would veto my return. However, that was not the case. It was also good to know that the Board in place was wanting a more intentional Christian emphasis this time around. But there were still traces of the long-time "Free State" mentality such as teachers and parents smoking within plain view of students. By Christmas I was more concerened that there were financial issues

     In the summer of 2015, I desperately wanted to prove that leaving Sitel was not a mistake--especially since they did not want to rehire me a few months earlier (They probably felt that I chickened out as an RTA, or maybe I spoke some things they did not want to hear after Pat was falsely accused of petty offenses). I was going to work for a competitor, but turned it down after wanting to desperately wanting to get back into the classroom. Even though Mr Walters acted hesitantly about my abilities, I wanted to show everyone at CCA that I needed to be there. Like so many times in the past, I would struggle after what I felt was a strong start. I was told in January 2016 that I would not be renewed. I felt that the Board was using my health issues to get back at me. I also felt they were biased because I did not attend church at Vibrant. All this time I felt that Walters was over-protective of me. Them forcing me to resign started a downward spiral of wanting to get as far away from

     I interviewed at New Hope in June 2008, after turning down an offer in Noxubee County for fear that I would be another Indianola. Despite not getting a position there when the new tern began, I felt that I would find working with Mr Wright to be a good experience. I would get that opportunity when the second nine weeks started, thanks to the French teacher resigning and a popular Spanish teacher--who had been there since the mid 80s--taking her place. When I thought that this would be upbeat, like my time in Marvell earlier was due to teaching Spanish and not math, I was not prepared for the reality I would face. I was not prepared to teach Spanish III--with several native speakers and a "child of privilege" in there. Neither could I piggyback on Mrs. Friesen's popularity. Most students saw me as merely a substitute until she returned. I also had my first problem with students using cell phones in class. At least I was paid as a regular employee and not as a sub. Of

     After things at Strider fell apart, I felt that Bradshaw's influence kept me from getting a job closer to Grenada. While I did not want to leave Pat behind, I had to take the job at Hebron. I wanted to find out if an MPSA/MAIS school could exist without the overbearing influence of Joe Bradshaw. Thankfully, many at Hebron felt the same way I did regarding Bradshaw. I also experienced a more deliberate Christian influence for the days I was there (Hebron, and later CCA, were established much later than "Segregation Academies" like Strider, Kirk, Hertiage, Pillow, and North Sunflower were). One downside at the beginning was having to moonlight in Columbus for Papa John's in an attempt to make up the income I lost at Strider. After a promising start, I began to lose control of my students--even, for the first time, seniors. Then burnout came from my side job. I prematurely quit it after thinking I would get an adjunct position at EMCC after Christmas. Eventually Coa

     When I signed a contract to teach at Strider in April 2006, I was just looking for a better experience than what I had endured for over six months in Indianola. What I was unaware of was the power that Coach Joe Bradshaw had over the school--as well as Tallahatchie County, the state of Mississippi, and the MPSA/MAIS. The first time I felt this influence was at the end of the 2005-06 year when I subbed; and he felt I was going above and beyond what Mrs Sherry wanted me to to. A few months later he kept me and Pat from moving into our trailer when he promised; we had to spend a month with Leon and Mary while I finally finished a graduate degree in twice as much time as I should have. While I tried to teach to the best of my abilities I was facing harassment, ridicule, and threats from many sides (Bradshaw, Nash, Pitts, Winters, Angie, the Board, and even the "Gentle Giant" Coach Aven). I was getting the picture that Bradshaw was an absolute tyrant, and that he didn't w

     The only reason I went to Indianola was because it was the first job available after Pat and I tied the knot in June 2005. The only good thing about teaching there IMHO was getting paid twice a month. Transitioning from Arkansas to Mississippi was rough, as was transitioning from high school to middle school. Rev Wilson and Coach Taylor were alike in that they were very intimidating and angry all the time. Where they contrasted was in Rev Wilson believing in keeping students in class to achieve higher test scores, with Coach Taylor wanting to physically beat troublemakers into submission. I had to leave due to lack of support after being assaulted twice by students within three days. I am still kind of surprised that Rev Wilson didn't physically hit me the way he did students.      The long commute each day, the pressure to get my marriage off on the right foot, and struggling to finish my MAEd at Union also led to the physical and emotional pressure I was feeling.      NOT

     If I had not decided to attend church at Humphrey, instead of Lodge Corner, for most Sundays in May 2004, I most likely would have not met Mr Henley. As things turned out, I was pumped about teaching upper-level math; but I gradually found Spanish to be more of a downer compared to Marvell. In the second half of the year, I feel that my upcoming marriage and impeding closure of the school caused things to end the way that they did. Maybe I shouldn't have announced about marrying Pat and moving across the river; or maybe I should have gotten Pat to join me in the Razorback State (later on I did find out that I would have been recommended for 2005-06 in De Witt (who knows, but I may have had a chance to teach Advanced Placement and/or dual enrollment classes at De Witt High School). Part of me also feels that things took a downward spiral due to Henley wanting to be a superintendent again--not a combination principal/assistant superintendent. He did take a superintendent's p

     If I had known that I would find Pat a few weeks after leaving Marvell, I would have stayed. I might have endured the commute from Humphrey a little better, while possibly moving to Batesville (perhaps a longer commute compared to the one from Humphrey)--giving me an opportunity to look for a position in Mississippi. I should have also looked at how Humphrey was going to end up--closing shop less than a year after De Witt annexed them.      Marvell was my first opportunity to focus on being a game manager and not exclusively an academic expert. I also wonder if Mr Larry would have let me teach math as well as Spanish in 2004-05, given that the part time upper-level math teacher retired when I left. I wish I could have signed the contract for 2004-05 as soon as Mr Reed gave it to me.

     Clarendon, in retrospect, was a job I did not have to take. Since I was only guaranteed employment there while another math teacher was deployed to Iraq, I should have held out to hear from Holly Grove (a smaller school system in a neighboring community that was offering me a chance to teach upper-level math; as opposed to Clarendon where I taught Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebraic Connections). Another option would have been to stay in Jackson, finish at Union a lot sooner than I did, find a teaching job after graduating, and look for another chance at a master's in math at either Ole Miss or Knoxville (I lost a teaching assistantship at State due to my low GPA at the end of 2001-02). Maybe I should have challenged the board when they forced me to resign. At least Mr Thomas was supportive later on when I started teaching at Marvell.      NOTEWORTHY:  I never really liked living in Jackson, TN. Even though enrolled at Union; and even though it was one of the ten largest citi

     I felt that I let emotion guide me to Hidden Lake. All that mattered was being much closer to Karyn than I had been for a year after she moved to Alabama. If only I knew about the special needs of those students (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and the stress they endured. Given that my engagement ended nine months after settling in what I thought was going to be my long term home, I wonder if I should have stayed in San Antonio a little longer and waited for a better overall opportunity. But maybe this was a part of the journey I had to take to where I am in the late summer/early fall of 2018.      NOTEWORTHY:  A year after breaking up with Karyn, I reconnected with her and was hoping that we would have another opportunity to share our lives with each other--especially as she was moving to North Carolina (and she was settling down about two hours east of where I was living). I later found out she got married; at the time I was bitter about it. Later on, however, I learned that h

     Lakeview was my first "real" job--in the sense that it was full-time, permanent, and related to my studies at SWTSU. It took me three years to get there, most likely due to how my student teaching at JHS fell apart prior to graduating from San Marcos. Another contributing factor to this long wait was failing, on my first attempt, one of the certification exams TX made new teachers take in 1986. I thought it would be interesting to be more of a facilitator/supervisor than a teacher; and I was actually looking forward to using it as a stepping stone to another ministry opportunity. When Lakeview voted to close the "Academy" at the end of my first year, I got to stay on as a middle school math and social studies teacher. After a good start, I gradually focused more on curriculum and less on students; I also saw my classroom management skills rapidly deteriorate. My relationship with Mr. Byrom also deteriorated to the point where I thought he would fire me on the s