Movin’ On…

How would anyone think that in the middle of a cancer diagnosis and the tests, labs, surgeries, and multiple doctors’ visits that went along with it that I would have time to find a new job? I managed it anyway. I remember when I was leaving another school where I had only been a few months before being appointed assistant principal, there was another employee leaving the school after being there for something like 20 years. The principal used a term to describe it that fits perfectly here…bittersweet. That’s the way I feel about this move. I have so many friends and memories that I’m leaving behind at Goolsby (not that they’re really being left behind), but I’m also going to where I already have friends and a new experience awaiting. This is a lateral move for me; but in a way, it’s a financial and emotional raise. I’m moving from a nine month school to a year-round school (financial), and I’ll be driving eight miles a day instead of 40 (financial and emotional). It’s ironic that Harmon was my second teaching assignment. I taught third grade there from 1992-1994 so it seems fitting that I’m returning there. I will miss so many folks at Goolsby. Some were friends before I even went there as AP, and they will remain so. Some were new friends made over time getting to know them, and others became bonded friends with the cancer sharing. My favorite part of being an administrator is the mentoring of new teachers. I didn’t get to do much of that at Goolsby, but Carla, Michelle, Erik, and Jolyne were pleasures to work with. I feel that I played some small part in their development from novice to not-so-novice. I understand that Harmon has numerous new teachers, and I hope I will be able to do the same with them. I’m looking forward to working with my old friends who are already there: principal, office manager, and math strategist. I know it will be a very busy job, and I truly look forward to that. Sometimes in life, change is called for; and this is one of those times for me. I wish all of the Goolsby staff the very best. All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go, I’m standing here outside the door. Already, I’m so lonesome I could die. ‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again. Oh, Babe, I hate to go….Oops, got carried away…no jet plane…just goin’ across town in my Escape…Vaya con Dios!