Put The Shoes On
As most of my friends and family know, I recently retired from the school counselor position of three decades. One year in a district that felt like 50 years and 29 years in a district that pretty much seemed like 29 years. That one year, a first year, was awful. I had a lot of growing up to do and immature coping patterns to break. At some point, we have to grow up. We can't keep running away. Put down roots. Not to say that the district where I first worked was good soil. It wasn't for me and I made a decision to leave and find a better fit. And I did, thankfully. Then, I put down roots. It takes wisdom to figure out when to not stick something out. The first district, many of the teachers seemed to hate the kids, particularly at the middle school (I had a dual position, middle school and high school). I came to figure out later that the principal and assistant principal were not very strong administrators and the faculty, on the whole, didn't respect and like them. I