I GOT A JOB!

Yes!  I am shouting it to the rooftops.  For anyone who doesn’t know, the job market for elementary school teachers is VERY tight where I am.  And frankly, it’s a bit demoralizing.  As an elementary teacher, a person works to dang hard and gets paid too little to have to go begging for a job.  But then, that’s fodder for a different post.  And I’m NOT complaining right now anyway, cuz, did I mention?  I GOT A JOB!!!

I was nervous when I left my job at the private school I wouldn’t be able to find another.  I went to a job fair near my home and there were FOUR HUNDRED teachers there, hoping to get one of the TWELVE positions available.  Ay yi yi.  So, I went to Guatemala, thinking I would just be subbing this fall.  It’s not a terrible place to be, but I had hoped for my own classroom. 

In any case, just before I got on the plane on the way to Guatemala, I picked up our local paper so I could do the crossword on the plane.  A few nights later, in my room, I was idly flipping through the want ads.  I came across one that said, “Bilingual elementary teacher needed for dual language program.  Teach half day in English, half in Spanish.”  I thought, wow, I’d sure LOVE to do that.  So… the morning after I got home, I called the number.   I asked for the woman listed (head of HR) but was told, “She isn’t here.”  I said, “Oh, I was hoping to apply for this elementary dual language teaching job.”  The woman was a bit grumpy and said, “What?  That ad?  We ran it two weeks ago!  Haven’t you applied YET???”  I said, um, no, I’ve been in GUATEMALA, working with ELEMENTARY AGED school children.  There was this long pause.  Then, (nicer, now)  “Really?  Are you certified?”  Yep.  “Hold on one sec!”  She went away and came back and set me up for an interview WITHOUT EVEN SEEING MY RESUME!!!  I guess it’s true what they say about desperately needing Spanish speakers…

 

In any case, the interview was on a Monday.  Two days later, I got the call!  It was the same HR woman, but NOT grumpy this time!  She was really funny and we laughed a lot til she finally got to what she was going to tell me…I thought, oh, god, if she says I didn’t get this, I’m going to cry.  But she didn’t!  She said, “Well, we usually ask for three references and then check them, but since this is the dual-language program, we can do that later and…the job is yours if you want it!”  Yeah!  I hung up the phone and just SCREAMED (one of my sons friends was here—I think I may have made him pee his pants!)

 

 

I was (and AM) so happy!  I’m also more than a little nervous.  It’s a big switch from my last school, which was private and privileged to inner city and underserved.  I’m crossing my fingers that it will be good.  It’s got a beautiful new building and people who are very committed to this program.  I’m excited that I will be part of a great TEAM, they have a CURRICULUM for me, and the principal ROCKS.  The best part is that it’s a job I am really excited about.  It will be tough, but I sure hope it’s a place where I can make a difference.   I am both excited and terrified.  To be sure, you WILL hear more about this later!

 

(P.S. In the last week, I’ve had two more calls for interviews and another job offer!  I guess when it rains, it pours!  In any case, one of the Assistant Superintendents who spoke with me assured me that finding qualified Spanish teachers was THE HARDEST thing an administrator has to do.  She said it is harder than trying to find math, science, even high school special ed!  Wow.  That truly blows me away!)