Again, this is a post I would feel more comfortable sharing if I knew how to make the blog private, but I feel compelled to write it now anyway.
On Monday, my friend Alana told me that her co-worker (technically my coworker too, as we all work for the SSA). Kami invited her to a candlelight vigil organized by her church, and asked if I wanted to come as well. YES. I had no clue how big or small a gathering this would be, but I knew I wanted to go. I invited my brother, who was working with a client, but said he could probably go and take the client with him.
We got there and I could tell it would be a beautiful rememberance of lives lost. There is a lot I could say, but I will keep this short.
Photo from Tallahassee Democrat online
The speakers there included Leon county Superintendant Jackie Pons, the mayor of Tallahassee, the mayor of Gretna, and church leaders. Kami's church that organized this is a predominantly black church, so the whole gathering had a feel like you were in a black church of believers ready to praise the Lord and hear what He was calling you to do.
Even though Jackie Pons spoke much quieter than the other leaders in our community, it was his presence that touched me the most. I've been spouting my opinions on education in Florida all over facebook, I even plan to start a whole new blog entireley dedicated to discource on education, support for teachers, and ultimately a means to enact change. It occured to me as I held a candle and said a prayer for the parents of the Sandy Hook children and all involved, that our Superindenant has done a great job making Leon county schools safefor our children. He is a parent himself, and I feel comforted knowing that he can and will do all he can to restore parents' trust in school safety.
In 2005, I accepted my first teaching job at my former middle school, Deerlake. 2005-2006 was Jackie Pons' last year there as Principal before being electing into the Superintendant role he holds now. Anyone who knows me personally knows I had a horrible experience that year as an eight grade math teacher. The way I was disrespected, the pay I made, and the endless hours of my evening and weekend time I spent on trying to keep my head above water amounted to one of the most stressful years of my life. The school did acknowledge my teaching skills and asked if I would stay. This was deffinitely good for my self-esteem and pride. Jackie actually said I could teach 6th or 7th grade math instead if I would be happier there. I can be an academic over-achiever at times, so I was actually quite an asset to the school certification wise. I had the schooling and certifications to teach K-5 as a classroom teacher. I also found out about an Interdisciplinary Middle grades exam that I took and passed qualifying me to teach Math, English, Science, or Social Studies grades 5-9. I had a Master's Degree in Education with specialization in math and science education. I also had an ESOL endorsement to prepare me to teach students with English as their 2nd language. The reason why these certifications made me marketable as a teacher was because I could teach 3 math and 2 science classess if they needed me to or any combination such as that.
Anyway, that year stress and pressure came at me from many places, but not from my boss, Jackie Pons. I remember one day I was sitting on my stool and teaching a lesson on the overhead about the properties of triangles (angles must add to 180, Pythagorean Theorem, Isosocles/Equilateral/Scalene, etc). Jackie walked in and told me and the class what a great job he was doing. He was literally my cheereader telling the class they were lucky I was teaching them Pre-Algebra because he was never good at math. He said something positive about his love for Deerlake, and walked out. My blood pressure never spiked, I didnt sweat, and when he left I felt supported and appreciated. Trust me when I say most teachers are not this lucky when it comes to all the informal and formal observations they endure.
I'm so glad I went to this vigil on Tuesday because being there with strangers, friends, and family (my brother) I felt a sense of peace for our nation. And I realized it doesnt help if I write angry rants about how underpaid and underappreciated teachers are. I need to write Jackie a letter saying "thank you" and I need to write a rational, data-filled letter to my congressmen...so that just maybe I can be a small part in the big changes our nation so desperately needs.
The service ended and I gave Jackie a hug and said, "Remember me?" and "Thank you." After that, I walked over and signed one of the cards that will be personally flown to Newtown from a Tallahassee clergy member. I got home and felt a lot more peace.
http://search.tallahassee.com/sp?aff=1100&skin=&keywords=vigil
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