Thursday, May 26, 2011

Blue

Thematic Photographic’s theme for this week has been “Got the Blues”, and with the end of the school year jumping out at me, this was good timing.
As some of you may know, I’m going to be changing schools again this year.  I applied for a ½ computers, ½ math position at another junior high and got the position.  A few of you may know that this isn’t all that surprising, this is the fifth time I’ll be changing schools in my career, the fourth in the last 6 years.  That and I had a little inside info from the head counselor there, who I’ve worked with at two other schools, and the principal at the school had already hired me twice before.
You would think with all the leaving I’ve done, and that I’ve had some negative issues at the school I’m at now, that I would be able to just shrug it off without a single tear. 
But the fact is that even in as little as a year, and in this case just 2, I have made some good friends that I will miss seeing every day.  And as I was packing things in my classroom today, and as some of my good friends there were giving me a full ration of crap for moving schools, I realized that there will be people that I will truly miss  (no, not the lunch ladies). 
The end of the school year is always a mixture of sheer jubilation and a case of the blues.  Summer is great, the freedom, the rest, no deadlines, no early morning alarms.  But there is always faculty that is leaving (in this case I’m leaving them behind) and a whole class of students that are moving on to the high school.  Or if you are in high school, moving on to real life. 
The picture is of the first shipment of classroom stuff that I brought home.   This is the signal that I won’t be coming back to that school next year.  And although I am excited for the change, to be teaching more than just math all day long, I also know, like all the schools before, that I’m leaving something behind that I will miss.
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6 comments:

Mustang Sally said...

Change. It is something that is nearly always bittersweet in my experience. Even when I want it, strive for it. But life is about change, movement. We flow with it or cease to be.

The road ahead will bring even more people whose lives you will touch, and will touch yours. For every ending there is a new beginning.

Blue is the color of love

The English Teacher said...

Even though I've spent over two decades at the same school, I still feel the bittersweetness of the end of the year. Finally! No papers to grade for 2 months! But I cried saying goodbye to 9GT yesterday.

Alexia said...

You've expressed really well that mixture of feelings on leaving somewhere you've been for a while, even if it wasn't the perfect job for you.
I bet those people who matter to you will miss you heaps, too, Max. Hope you get to stay in touch with them!

The worst part is cleaning out and transferring all your stuff... but new beginnings are always exciting.
Have a wonderful summer.

Max Sartin said...

Mustang - You got it right on. Even when you are excited about the change, there is almost always something being left behind.
E.T. - Yup. Even when not leaving a school, there are a group of the kids that are leaving. I like the fact that every school year has an ending, and the next year is a new beginning, but it's also hard to watch some of the kids go.
Alexia - There are some people there that I will definitly stay in touch with, there are two or three people I touch base with on a regular basis from each of the schools I've been at. And cleaning out - going through and getting rid of stuff I don't need, is definitly the worst part. But it is exciting to start setting up the new classroom.

Jannx said...

Wow, I seem to have missed a lot in my absence. Best wishes at your new school Max.

Max Sartin said...

Jannx - Thanks, I'm looking forward to this change, I think it's going to be good.