The reason this year has been wonderful is because I have been able to take all that background knowledge and experience, and use it in a setting that is just...different. I grew up in a small town, and small towns have a special community that you can't understand unless you are part of it. Being at Oly North has made me a better teacher because in addition to academics, the focus here lays heavily on parent involvement, and the WHOLE student. This district has encouraged me to communicate with parents more than I ever have (thanks Mr. Lee!), and frankly, I think it's fun! I really feel like a valued team member here.
I was blown away when I came in to fill out my new hire paperwork this past summer. First of all, Dr. Wise is the one who went through paperwork such as my W-4 with me. Who does that?!? The superintendent would never be the one to facilitate that paperwork in a large district. I was amazed that he took the time to meet with each new teacher one-on-one. But I don't think he did it because there wasn't office staff available to hand me paperwork. He met with me because he wants to know each employee in our district.
During that first meeting, Dr. Wise explained the vision of the district to me, and that we truly care about the student's WHOLE lives. More than once, I've heard administration say that if our students can't trust us, they are not going to learn from us. I walked away from that meeting so excited that I get to work in such a focused district, and that my children will grow up attending these schools, with such quality teachers.
Speaking of great teachers, I was incredibly excited to be part of this spectacular talent show act last week...