This was one of those weeks that
felt like a month. So much has happened,
yet so little. Isn’t that odd? Hopefully I can explain.
Sunday
morning was nice because, after updating my blog, I got to make breakfast for
Nicole before she headed back home to Vegas.
I made some French toast and bacon, and it was nice to have another hour
together. Church was nice, particularly
because one of the boys brought his rubic’s cube to church and that allowed me
to show off some of my cubing skills. We
even made a nice analogy connecting the cube to the apostasy of the early
church and mankind’s effort to put it back together. I’ll have to tell you about it sometime. :)
What really
defined this week was discovering that, through Facebook, Nicole and I are able
to video chat. It was so nice to be able
to see her again, and this has, I feel, really kept the fire ignited more after
a week apart than I could have hoped for.
Of course, and I may get mocked for this, it’s also allowed me a week
with the fewest hours of sleep. We went
from signing off at 1:30 at the top of the week, to 3:00 on Thursday
morning. We’ve had some great
conversations…and that’s all I’m going to say about that. However, I should add that Friday night I’m
driving down to Vegas, and she and I are going to spend the weekend
together. I can’t wait.
This week
provided a ton of snow up in northern Utah.
Okay, not a ton, but dad tells me it was likely 2 feet at his
house. Here, it was more like half that. Still, my driveway is easily 25 yards
long. That’s a ton of snow for one guy
to shovel. I got home Monday from work
and shoveled half. Tuesday I got home
from work and shoveled that half again.
Wednesday I got home from work and finished shoveling the other
half. A beast of a job, if I say so
myself. And maybe helped in the loss of
a few pounds. :)
School went
well, despite a scare that hit me midweek.
We had another tournament this weekend, so much of my focus was getting
prepared for that, when I got an email from my principal which was actually a
forward from the district office. This
email claimed that 2 of the classes I was now teaching, classes I was scheduled
to teach next year, I was not qualified for.
You can imagine this left me feeling adamant and worried; I really don’t
want to ruffle any feathers at this job; if it were my choice, I’d be on no
one’s radar…ever. Needless to say, I
hiked over to the district office immediately and talked to Claudia about this
(she’s the super’s secretary) and in the process of that conversation, Leslie
(the superintendent) stepped over and I was talking to her directly about this
issue. We stepped back to her office
where she pulled up the state website; we talked about what might be required
to update this, and then after printing some paperwork, she sent me back to the
school to make some calls and figure things out. First, I was told Musical Production I was
under qualified for. Part of me wanted
to say, “durr,” but I held back.
Instead, I pointed out that what took place in this class was not what
we’d originally planned. You see, the
hope was that most of those participating in the fall musical would be in the
class so that we could actually work on the production during school hours. Didn’t happen. Not even close. As such, this class was more of a technical
one, working lights, sound, and costumes, while a ton of time and effort was
spent cleaning the auditorium. With that
in mind, all we had to do at the district level was change the name of the
class to one that, on the books of the state, better fit this description. One problem solved.
Back at the
school, talking to the state, the woman I was speaking with was pleasant and
informative, but also the harbinger of bad news: a speech credential for me in
the state of Utah would require an addition 24 credits. 24!
Insane. Still, I kept positive
and assured her I was willing to do what it took. She encouraged that this was technically not
my fault, that the school shouldn’t have put me in this position without doing
a check of my requirements. She asked me
to send a check to a specific individual at the state, and that they’d look
over my requirements and maybe there would be enough to get me started on the
right track. You can imagine I was a bit
worried, but still optimistic.
Then, to my
surprise, I got an email from Claudia at the end of 4th period. Imagine the relief and stunning news to find
that, if I change the name of my Speech class (and I’ve been calling it Speech
and Debate since school began) from Speech to Debate…now I’m qualified.
What?!
Problem 2
solved. You gotta love the state of
Utah.
Our
tournament this week was down in Richfield.
Less than 90 minutes away, so we drove down and back Friday night and
down and back again Saturday. A little
tiring, but so much less expensive for the kids. Friday night I was asked to sit and judge a
session of congress, and it was terrific!
These kids governed themselves and intelligently presented some
impressive bills. This may be my new
favorite event, and I can’t wait for more opportunities next year. Our region tournament the 28th of
the month, and I’m excited about it.
While I wish we had more success to boast of, I’ve really learned a lot
this year and have a much clearer idea of how to more effectively handle this
next year.
I'll keep ya posted.
No comments:
Post a Comment