Appreciate the Journey

In January of 2001, I started my first full time teaching job. As if being a first year teacher wasn't hard enough, I was a first year teacher who started in 2nd semester after the kids had had a string of substitutes. Oh, I was also at a year-round school and I was teaching from a cart. For all those not familiar with "cart teaching", it means I didn't have a classroom. All my teacher things were neatly piled on a rolling AV cart, and every four weeks I moved to whatever room was empty due to track break. The journey began, literally.

My first few months were rough. My husband started teaching the August prior and told me to stick it out until the start of the new school year. It was hard; I doubted if I was cut out for teaching.

Fast forward a few years...I found my stride. I moved from 6th graders to 9th graders, and finally thought that teaching really was my thing. They say it takes at least three years to start feeling like you know what you're doing. After 3 years of teaching high school, I took on Student Council and moved on to teaching 10th and 11th grades. I was getting there.

Every year was a new adventure: new students, new courses, new experiences. My students made me laugh every day, and going to work was fun. Where else but a school could you line the halls with colorful drawings, make puppets, have dance-offs at lunch, and celebrate it all by wearing pajamas to work? Teacher Life was good.

However, some journeys have unknown destinations. Let's fast forward again--add two children, a Master's Degree, and a hankering to make a more far-reaching difference. With one foot in the classroom and one foot in the world of teacher leadership, I was looking for a way to take both roads at once. Presenting at conferences, writing, and learning from inspirational leaders, led me to the U.S. Department of Education as a 2016-2017 Teaching Ambassador Fellow. This experience introduced me to the inner workings of the educational system. Pause and think about the moment you see behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Yes, it felt like that.

Equity. Elevating the Profession. Social Justice. Policy. 

The Fellowship was the most amazing, yet surreal experience of my professional life. I came back from Washington ready to take on the world, or maybe just Nevada. This Teacher's Journey has been traveled on an ever winding road, and on Monday, April 30th, I took the fork.

After 17 years in the classroom, on a warm Thursday afternoon, I left. It was difficult and bittersweet, but it was also time. My career as an educator, paired with my own unapologetic ambition, had afforded me opportunities to not only teach creative, smart, wonderful students, but to build a professional learning network of equally amazing educators, leaders, and advocates. This network aided me in finding my leader's voice.

So, here I am. The inaugural Teacher Leader in Residence. If I could have invented a job just for me, this would be it. An chance to organize, to elevate, to advocate, to represent, and to gather--I am honored to be given the opportunity to serve Nevada teachers and to elevate our voices.

If all my years in education have taught me anything, it is that educators are amazing. They sacrifice, they empathize, they work tirelessly. They give so much and ask for so little in return.

I am proud to be a teacher. Whether in the classroom or working on behalf of those who are, I will always be glad that I stuck it out. It hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it. Here I go--I invite you to join me on the next iteration of #thisteachersjourney.