Friday, January 27, 2012

Friday...State of the Union...and an encouragement to educators.

I ove my job as a teacher of the youth of America. I do. I am so thankful that I have a place to go every day where I get to help kids a little bit, and get paid for it. Truly, I love it. But when Friday afternoon comes around, and I hop in my car...there is nothing like it. Granted, on my 45 minute drive home, I so badly want to slump down, shut my eyes, and forget about the world...but I somehow make it home before that all happens. :)

I tried to take a (lame) picture of some stuff that symbolizes my particular Friday night, here on January 27, 2012, but my phone battery is REALLY low, and to prove how lazy I am on Fridays, I am not even going to make the trek up to my room to get the charger in order to take the picture and put it on this blog. HA! Instead, I'll just tell ya.

First off, this was an awesome week at school - it was Spiritual Emphasis Week, which means the kiddos choose different breakout sessions to attend that are led by teachers and guest speakers. I didn't lead a session, but instead got to listen in on some really great stuff - like "Dting 101 for Freshman and Sophomores" "All the Single Ladies" (in which yours truly sang the Beyonce song...yes...I did that), "Lasting Friendships," and such. So thisweek I taught Tues-Thurs, then today we had a half day full of breakout sessions and a closing party/lunch/worship time outside in the 82 degree weather. What? Yep. It was 82 degrees here today. Mmmmhmmmm.....

Once I made it safely to my apartment, I was tempted to take a LONG nap, but decided to push through the exhaustion so I can sleep well tonight. See? I am learning! :) My roommate is gone, and I decided not to hang with friends tonight...er...all my friends are busy with other cool stuff...so I watched a movie recommended to me by a friend (called "Penelope", and it was cute!), watched a few episodes of "Friends," and read a bit before logging on to my gmail and facebook accounts. :)

Maybe you already know this, but I do not have TV in my apartment - so I don't actually ever watch anything LIVE. I watch DVDs and shows on Hulu.com after they have aired. So I knew that President Obama gave a State of the Union Address awhile ago, and I decided to look it up and read through some of what he "addressed" to the "Union." I did not read the whole thing (it is like 11 pages...who's got time for that?) but what I did read, I really liked. Is this a shameless plug for us to re-elect our Democratic Candidate? Perhaps. :) But I digress. Here is a quote from the address:

"We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance. Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives. Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies - just to make a difference.

Teachers matter."
-President Barack Obama January 2012

However you feel about our President, don't you love this quote? Isn't it so true? Couldn't we all point to a teacher who encouraged us, asked us how we were doing, stayed after school with us, came before school for us, coached us, wrote recommendations for us, came to our graduation parties...? I know I can.

Thank you, Mr. Hevern.
Thank you, Mrs. Tschida.
Thank you, Mr. Kyes.
Thank you, Mr. Moran.
Thank you, Senorita Spittal.
Thank you, Senora George.
Thank you, Professor Leder.
Thank you, Professor Pyper.
Thank you, Professor Stegink.
Thank you, MOM and DAD....both retired teachers and coaches.

The end.

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