Reprising my role at Williams

Sometimes life brings on the unexpected. After retiring from my position as library and IT specialist at Williams School in June 2015, I enjoyed a wonderful summer giving tours of Fenway Park. My husband and I planned a cruise to Canada that left the first week of school! That seemed weird. A funny thing happened late in August. I ran into my principal in the parking lot at school when I went in to return something. She said she had a one day position as a school substitute to fill and asked me if I would do it. I hesitated and told her I would think about it, but if anybody else came along and wanted it to go ahead and hire them. Well, I got back from my cruise and started back at my school one day a week. It worked out marvelously. I had my fix of school, felt like I was making a positive contribution, but I was also free to pursue my Fenway adventure. Around the middle of the school year I found out that the person hired to take my place, my colleague Felicia Quesada Montville, would need a maternity leave at the end of April. I decided to step back in as Library teacher for the last two months of the year. I am so glad I made that decision. It gave me a chance to work with the kids again, use some of my tried and true lessons, and try something new! Watch for the results in my next post! While it is a challenging time to be an educator, it is also so extremely rewarding, invigorating, and such a chance to make a difference in our students' lives. This morning I watched the fifth graders graduate. Their play this year was "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio. They marched across the stage with their "Choose Kind" tee shirts on as they closed their years at Williams. We have such important work to do. I am so proud of all of my colleagues for continuing to choose this path, and I am grateful for stepping back in to help one more time! This profession is amazing.