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If you kill me you will not easily find a successor to me, who am sort of a gadfly, given to the state; and the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. I dare say that you may feel out of temper (like a person who is suddenly awakened from sleep), and you may think that you might easily strike me dead, and then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless the gods in their care of you sent you another gadfly. | |
The students who most often came after or before school to speak with me all wanted to know the result of the meeting. I told them what I felt, it was a railroading. I thanked those who'd gone to the principal (without my prior knowledge), but let them know the matter was now out of his hands. The district administrator was to think about my situation and to bring up his recommendation at the next school board meeting. His choices were immediate termination, immediate resignation, or resignation at the end of the school year.
From there, word spread among the student body. I have no clue how many students and parents wrote emails and letters to the district administrator. I only know that enough of them did that the issue of my employment was not brought up at the following school board meeting. A few of the students encouraged me by sharing what they'd written. "Mr. Jones is the only math teacher I've ever had that didn't make me feel stupid." "Mr. Jones teaches more than math, he teaches us coping skills and life skills." How much did my students care? One email I received was this one:
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hey guy...hope you're doing okay. i got your mail, so i decided to write [the district administrator] an e-mail. i did send it to you in the official copy, but i couldn't cc it [here], because he probably wouldn't like it if he knew we had your personal e-mail. so the copy i 'officially' sent to you and [the principal] is pretty much politics. so here's a copy of the letter i wrote...have a good night!
-Claire
[District Administrator]:
Hi, my name is Claire [Last Name], and I'm a junior at the high school. Last year, Mark Jones was my teacher for Algebra 2. During the semester that I had the privilege of having Mr. Jones as a teacher, I grew to respect him as a fantastic teacher and a good man who truly cared about his students. He never hesitated to take time out of his schedule to give tutoring sessions, 'algebra parties', or to be a sounding board for anyone who needed it. His class was the first time that I have actually understood mathematics. He has done so much, not only for me, but for countless of other students in the school. You may not know this, but most of the students are in almost an uproar over the possibility of his termination. So many people want to see him stay. Groups of students, myself included, have met with [the principal] to discuss what we can do. Many more have talked about writing letters or appearing before the school board if so allowed. All I can ask of you is to please think about all of us who feel this way. Please realize that there is a large percentage of students who desperately want Mr. Jones to stay. We would greatly appreciate it if you, [the principal], and the school board would allow him to stay until the end of the school year. I believe that he still has important work to do in our high school and many lives to impact in a positive way. Thank you very much.
Most Sincerely,
Claire [Last Name]
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