|
That following week, one of my Algebra II students, Robbie, came into my class before lunch and said, "Jones, give me your car keys." I asked what for and he said it was for a project one of his classes and that he'd have my keys back fourth hour. Why not? I tossed them to Robbie and he said thanks. Sure enough, fourth period he was there, giving me my keys back. He said my car was running and out in the faculty parking lot. I was choked up and almost started to cry. He told me the day before some guys in his shop class were talking about my suspension and the fact that my car hadn't run over the past three months. During lunch and third period, they went to my apartment, towed the Pontiac to the auto shop at school, found a broken wire between the battery and the starter, replaced my battery terminals, and voila! End of Setback Number One. The end of the school year approached rapidly, and I was given cards and gifts of thanks from about twenty students. Notable among them was from goddess Hannah:
Coming from the future valedictorian of her graduating class, knowing how important her education is to her... and to read a person of this caliber say I was the most inspiring teacher she'd ever had led me to think I was doing something right at Holmen High School. My end of the year message from the principal, though, was less than inspiring. I received an annual summary review consisting of seven paragraphs, of which only two had anything positive to read. My strong points, according to him, were my content knowledge and my willingness to go the extra step with the Algebra Parties. Everything else was negative. I was not granted tenure (as is normally the case after a teacher has been with that district for two years), but was put on one more year of probationary status. Over the summer I was assigned readings regarding classroom discipline, leadership, and respect. The thing was, I already had discipline, leadership, and respect. And loyalty. And, heaven forbid, fun. And students from other teachers' classes coming to me for help. It was enough to make one want to look for a new teaching job. |