One Month to Go

In exactly one month from today, I (and over 13,000 other educators from across the country) will invade the Windy City. I cannot wait...never been to Chicago! 


Any advice or recommendations of things that I MUST do while there will gladly be taken. 
(Aaron, Dean, Dwayne...I specifically mean you three. You have visited or live there already!) 

Saying Goodbye to My Kids

Tomorrow is the last day of the school year!

Despite all of the grief and stress that these kids could put me through, I am going to miss them all. I really do have such love for these kids!

Some of my girls decided to show their love!
Gotta love this!

I am sure to be in tears tomorrow afternoon as all the teachers in my school line up along the road and wave goodbye to our kids as they depart the school for the last time this year. This is a tradition at our school, and I love it every year! (I am such a sentimental sap!)

Need You Now

I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane...Look Out Chicago!

I have booked my flight, and we are off to Chicago on June 30!

I, along with 15,000 of my teaching colleagues, will be invading the Windy City. I am super excited to be visiting Chicago. I have never been there! Friends have been inviting me for years, and I have never quite made it there. That is all about to change.

So, if you are in the Chicago area and want to hang out, you know how to find me!

Not-So Good News for My City

This week I learned that I am living in the most depressed city in the United States. Based on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Johnson City (TN) received the worst score for depression.

Who knew???

Seems we are also the worst in the nation for high cholesterol...hmmmmmmmmmmm.

For the record, my cholesterol is in great shape! Believe me, it gets checked twice a year now with our school system's health/wellness program. Bloodwork every March and September for a complete workup and assessment.

As for the depression...it is bizarre to think that my city is the worst in the nation. I can report that the highest payout of prescription drugs in our system is anti-depressants. (That is the truth!)

Maybe the report was right?

Is this a reason for me to high-tail it out of here? No! I do love it here, even if I do complain about it from time to time. However, it could be a good argument if/when I decide to leave.

Making Them Pray!!!!!!

Took this today as my students were working at the outdoor classroom. I thought it was funny how the boys looked as though they were praying...Maybe they were praying for less homework!

Happy Mother's Day!

My Beautiful Mother

I did not get to see my mother today. It is a little sad that I could not meet up with her to spend quality mother-son time. However, I was able to get her on the phone, and we chatted for some time. That will have to do for now.

My relationship with my mother is quite unique to any of my friends. Most of my friends have had their mother in their lives since they were born. I did not have that luxury. My parents divorced when I was 5, and my dad won custody of us. I basically did not have a relationship with my mother from age 5 to age 18. There was so much that I feel I missed not having my mom around.

She and I now have a wonderful relationship. I am so much like my mother. There is this running joke in my family that I am my mother's child, and my brother (Jason) is my father's child. We are each mirror personalities of each parent. I love that!

Even though I did not have my mother in my life for 13 years, I was surrounded with wonderful women who showed me love. My paternal grandmother was the woman I credit with helping my dad raise me. I love and miss her so much!

Aunt Sue and my Dad

The woman in charge of the family now is my Aunt Sue. She is my dad's only sister. She has earned the official title of "The Warden." No one in the family (except me...the rebel!) does anything without consulting the Warden. Sue never was able to have kids, so she always treated her nieces and nephews like her own. We all talk to her on a weekly basis. I admit that I talk to her several times a week. She is such a strong woman, which she definitely got from her mother!

So, Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in this world who are mothers or take mothering roles for others. I love all the women in my life, and I would not trade a one of them!

My New Career...Keynote Speaker????

On Friday I received the most random email while at school. It was from a gentleman who was organizing a regional conference for education newspaper reporters. He was inviting me to be the keynote speaker at the conference given my knowledge and background with the Race to the Top program, Tennessee's First to the Top Act, and the current education legislation changes taking place in Tennessee.

Frankly, I was floored to receive the invitation. I simply have been trying to figure out why I would be selected. Have they not heard me speaking before on the local and state level? Yes, I have been in the papers and on the news programs fighting for my teachers. Yes, I have become one of the faces for the fight around the region. No, I did not choose this role, but I am glad I could be here to do it!

Seems I would be the keynote speaker, plus they want me to present a 45-minute discussion on the topics I mentioned before and a 15-minute question-and-answer session. They are also offering me 12 hours of professional in-service credit for next school year.

The conference is to be held this summer...July to be exact. I need to decide quickly if I am interested in accepting this new challenge. I don't know what I will do. It would be a great experience for me. However, do I want to put in the extra hours to prepare? I have been trying so hard over the past few months to learn the value of saying "no" to things.

I am going to think about this one for another day or two before returning the email and accepting/declining the offer.

Till then, I will be continuing to write my state representatives and senators as they try to destroy my education profession in Tennessee! The fight lives on!

The Graduate

I have always been one not to settle and rest on my laurels!

For the past couple of years I have been contemplating returning to school to get my other post-graduate degrees. I want to get my EdS is Supervision and Administration for my next degree. I really feel that I will be a great school administrator/leader. I need this degree so I can garner my Supervisor endorsement with the state department of education.

There is a problem with this...the money!

The program that I am interested in will cost about $12,000 with tuition and books. That certainly is not an amount of money that have set aside at the moment. Let's face it...I am a middle school teacher. We are not known for our great wealth. Also, include the fact that I am already paying off student loans. I do not want to go back into debt for more.

So what am I to do? I am looking for scholarships and grants that I could possibly get to fund this next degree. I looked into payment options for this program. They do a monthly payment plan, but it is right at $1000 per month. OUCH!

This is one of those times when I earnestly wish some long-lost relative would have left me a great deal of money in their will! It would be much easier.

I have to find a solution for this. I am welcoming all ideas or known resources I can employ to help me out.

Right now I am too tired to continue working on this. I am off to bed!