I'm a sub!

I'm excited! Today, I finished orientation for being a substitute in Shelby County Schools. As of today, I can sub for Special Ed aides. As soon as my state certificate comes in, I can sub for teachers. So, hurry up state!

This will be a great blessing - not only will it help put dollars in our bank account, but it will help with exposure. Most of my friends who have gotten jobs immediately out of school have subbed or been aides. And that's the goal - a job!

I had an angel pull strings for me to get in faster - so thank you sweet, wonderful friend for pushing this. I can't wait!

My story...

I am a wife, a mother of two boys (5 and 3) and a full-time graduate student at the University of Montevallo. That sentence alone should tell you that I use more concealer and coffee than I should!

For nearly ten years, I worked in advertising for Mailsouth, and was very good at what I did. I truly loved the people I worked with and worked for a good, local company. I admit I was very blessed, and am truly grateful for that experience. But, I wrestled with feeling that I wasn't using my talents and began to feel unfulfilled.

As a pianist and lover of music, I have been afforded many great opportunities to participate and try new things. I am the pianist and music minister for my church, and lead both the adult and children's choirs. I also work with the children's education program, as a teacher and music leader, and must admit it is what makes my heart sing most. A few years ago, a church friend offered me an opportunity to volunteer in music therapy for students with special needs at Linda Nolen Learning Center, and so I began to spend my work lunches at school. I worked with students with multiple disabilities as well as a class of students with emotional disabilities, and I fell in love.

Last year, my family, especially my husband and mother, offered me a beautiful gift: the opportunity to change my career. So, against all logic in this economy, I quit my job and enrolled in the Alternative 5th Year Collaborative Elementary Ed Master's program at the University of Montevallo. I hope to graduate in May 2013 with a Master's, ready to teach Special Ed or Gen Ed for kindergarten up to 6th grade.

So far, this has been the scariest and most rewarding experience of my life. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity and am genuinely thrilled every day. I can't wait to be in the classroom!

The purpose...

I have a great fear of being that obnoxious person who gushes and shares more information than anyone cares to know. Those people get avoided and talked about, and we all roll our eyes when we think of them. I know I've jumped behind a display or two in Wal-mart to avoid them. 

On the same token, my wonderful friends ask how things are going, cheer me on, and (most importantly) pray for me and my family while I follow this path. So, to share with you, in the least intrusive way I can think of, I'm going to blog. 

I intend to blog updates, accomplishments to celebrate, frustrations that are challenging me, and thoughts and issues I'd love to have your input in. I hope you'll respond to me, especially as I have new "Aha!" moments, share thoughts of confusion or am just plain wrong about something.

Thank you for supporting me on my journey. One of the incredible and unexpected blessings this adventure has given me is a window into the beautiful support God has given me... I know I am blessed!

Oh, the places you'll go!

My third grade teacher, Diane Stith, is one of those teachers they write case studies about. She was warm, creative, and treated each of her students with respect and dignity. Her classes were engaging and she inventively taught difficult concepts. She made learning fun. If you were a Stith Star, you were very lucky. I keep up with a few of my friends from that class, and we all say she was one of the best teachers we ever had.

Mrs. Stith had shared journals with her students. I remember mine clearly: It was a green pocket folder with tabs, filled with wide rule loose leaf ready for writing. On the cover, Mrs. Stith wrote my name in her near-perfect cursive. We were to write to her any thoughts we had, and she wrote us back, always in blue inked cursive. She always signed her entry with a smiley face next to her signature.

I loved this dialogue with Mrs. Stith, and she made me feel like my thoughts mattered. But, our dialogue didn't end when I moved to the fourth grade. Throughout my life, Mrs. Stith and I have corresponded. I have written her on many events of accomplishment, and she's always written me back sharing her pride and encouragement for my future.

In high school, Mrs. Stith sent me a very special copy of Dr. Seuss's Oh! The Places You'll Go! On the inside cover, she inscribed to me words of encouragement, her belief in me and to celebrate all the places I'll go with brains in my head and shoes in my feet. It is in a special place to me, along with my Waterford Crystal star she sent me when I graduated - because I am forever a Stith Star.

Dr. Seuss was a genius, wasn't he? In a rhyming pattern that makes the complicated idea sound simple, he sums up the highs and lows of the journeys of life. All we need is brains in our head and shoes in our feet. And of course there will be slumps and bumps, and we will feel scared and alone, but as long as we have those brains in our heads and shoes in our feet, we will succeed. We will succeed, 98 3/4 percent guaranteed!

Mrs. Stith made a difference in my life. She is one of the first people to teach me how to treat everyone with dignity, and that believing in people makes all the difference. Mrs. Stith, if I am half of the teacher you have been to me, what a great success I will be!