It has been a very silent summer. After my school lost enrollment and Title I funding from a decrease in the amount of free and reduced lunch applications, I was told that I would not be returning to the new school I loved so much. I understood. I was the last one in the door, so I should be the first one out, but no one did anything to try to help place me at another school. I still can’t help but think it’s because of my age and experience. I would cost too much. It would be so much easier (and probably a relief to them) if they could let me go. I have to confess, I felt a little bit like a hooker thrown to the curb. They’d gotten out of me what they wanted and had paid as little as possible to get it.
I dusted myself off and applied for every available teaching job and many jobs outside of my current profession but for which I am qualified. There was no response, nothing but crickets chirping in the grass and cicadas rasping in the trees. I wondered why. I worried. I grew hopeless and desperate enough to hold a garage sale and sell off a lot of my teacher resources that have been taking up space in my garage and basement.
Finally, at the beginning of August, with the start of school less than two weeks away, I have been hired to teach first grade in a town about 30 miles away. I’m very grateful to the principal who hired me, the only one to grant me an interview, give me a chance. I truly thought the end of my career had arrived up until that point. I hoped/dreamed of a better life, one in which I could make personal phone calls and go to the bathroom whenever I needed, but that’s okay. Last Friday, I had my first paycheck since June.
It’s not summer anymore, and my environment is definitely no longer silent!