I recall a cartoon my mentor teacher taped on my classroom door my very first year of teaching; I also promise this is not me! (see the picture to the right)
The faculty and staff begin our year officially Tuesday, August 1 at 9 AM. We worship together over at Holy Cross. The rest of the week consisted of various meetings and planning time. Gary Reinking, Director of Building and Grounds, demonstrated the proper use of a fire extinguisher (this is a favorite for many of us). Nurse Reff showed us an entertaining OSHA video. We met with our departments and got questions answered about OnCampus updates.
New teachers are being welcomed into the Concordia family. Those of us who assigned summer work may already have grades to enter (check out my last post on summer reading!). All of us will be rearranging our classrooms after they were cleaned this summer, and will continue to adapt our curriculum to the new bell schedule.
I love teaching, but I also love my summer. I was blessed to take my kids to the zoo and library, to spend time at my in-law’s lake property, and to catch up on reading (and a fair amount of Netflix). But I was also blessed by emails from students heading off to college, conversations with students working around Fort Wayne, and catching up with Concordia families at registration. My Cadet family is never far from my thoughts.
I wish I had a few more weeks of relaxing sunshine and not setting a morning alarm, but there is also joy in returning to freshly waxed floors, new faces, and the anticipation of a new year of relationship building and knowledge gathering. I also get inordinately excited about new office supplies.
I am very excited for my new course this year, Life 101, which I planned on my front porch this summer with Mrs. Salisbury and Mrs. Pierce. I am enthusiastic for the opportunities our longer class periods will allow for my AP English and Sociology classes. Most especially, I am energized by the chance to again use the talents God has given me to mold our students into children of God “United in Service ... with Christ at the Center,” as this year’s theme encourages. I know I won’t have my whole classroom library alphabetized or all my lesson plans posted in detail online before August 9, but I know that “the same God empowers” our “varieties of activities” as Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Cor 12:4-6, our year’s verse.
Have a blessed last few days of summer, and if you haven’t yet, read Drew Amstutz’s blog last week with ten tips for freshmen starting high school. He’s a former student of mine, and I’m just a little bit proud! Although I have to add to his #6 about school supplies: buy a heavy duty iPad case with screen protector. I can’t believe how many students have shattered screens by Christmas break!
Lizzy Hoham,
English Teacher