Skip to main content

New Hope

     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 course I was disappointed that Mr Wright did not give me another year and forced me to re-apply if I wanted to come back. At the time I did nor realize I would be in the "wilderness" for the next six years. Going to Sitel made me think I would find purpose there that I seemed to miss in the classroom. Sadly, I crashed and burned after finally advancing out of an entry-level position.

     NOTEWORTHY:  Less than three years after I left, Mr Wright was elected Superintendent of the Lowndes County School District. I applied for other positions there in subsequent years, but they did not materialize.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hidden Lake

     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. L...
Post a Comment
Read more

Humprhey

     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 superintende...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marvell

     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.
Post a Comment
Read more