Retirement suprises!

Last night was my school district's retirement party. The basket above was filled, and I mean FILLED with drawings, cards, letters, and more from almost all of the kids I work with now, and also some kids in 7th grade and high school. WOW. And you may notice some gift cards tucked in there too. Double wow.

The photo on the right above is North Warren Central School's art department: past (me, center); present (the wonderful secondary art teacher, right); and future (my replacement and friend, current elementary computer teacher and more, and also the creator of that remarkable basket, left). Sorry about the poor focus on some of these photos. Camera problems :(

Beautiful blood red roses (my favorite color) from my lovely stepdaughter and her adorable husband; and a fabulous cake made by the sister of a staff member who really went the extra mile planning a great party for me and the other two retirees.


Left above, that's the stepdaughter and hubby, and my sweet hubby behind me who surprised me with the red rose corsage (which was really lucky, because I had been making a necklace to wear, and it was almost done and I "oopsied" after school yesterday trimming the excess wire and cut the wrong wire and now need to do damage control and so obviously I couldn't wear it).

The center photo is the presentation about ME. You already know the two ladies at the podium are the present and future art department. On the left is a dear friend/high school social studies teacher who worked closely with me during my 10 years as union president and more. He "roasted" me, in particular about the way I ran the union (I think he used the word "bulldog" more than once, and he called me bossy, but also said I made the union professional and gave us clout and always did my darnedest to protect the rights of my members no matter the situation.) I'm proud to say that everything he said was true, and I was tickled that he knew nothing he said would offend me.

The drawings below came from the many in my basket. Hopefully in the coming days I'll have the chance to scan some of the others to share. I particularly liked these because of the way I was represented, with an apron and red shoes and glasses, my hair white and wild on the left and gray and pony-tailed on the right. Simply fabulous. Thank you Caitlin and Cassie! (Speaking of my hair: I tried to French-braid my hair for the party, and then I got a phone call from my son and got sidetracked and ran out of time. Oh well.)

A couple more things about the presentation about ME:
My replacement spoke about my years of teaching, and the wonderful things kids said. I loved in particular that so many of them said I always smiled, and that I'm funny and creative, and that I don't mind if they make a mess. One quote that I love: "Mrs. Brown is the best art teacher I ever had. Well actually, she's the ONLY art teacher I ever had but she's still pretty good." Smiles.

She had asked me earlier last week what the hardest thing is about being an art teacher, and I had replied "working in isolation - art teachers in small schools are often islands unto themselves and have nobody with whom they can share ideas". I had mentioned how that had changed in the past 2 years for me, partly because of my wonderful young colleague (it is the first time in years that I really feel like part of a team and not a solo operation), and also because of the supportive community that has formed from blogging. She evidently really heard me during that conversation, because, much to my surprise, she contacted some of YOU. Holy guacamole! At the podium she shared remarks from several of you and I must say I was blown away by what you said. You must know, though, that whatever you have gotten from me, I have received back tenfold from my associations with you. Thank you for what you give me by your willingness to share on your blogs, and thank you for taking the time to respond to a request from a stranger! Hopefully you'll get to know her more, since I think she's already discovering the value of our art teacher blog network. Art Project Girl, I should mention, lest you feel left out, that she knew of our friendship but couldn't find an email address to contact you. She couldn't leave a comment on your blog because she knew I'd find it and the secret would have been out!

All in all, it was a fabulous evening, with some wonderful hugs and comments from staff members that I didn't even know cared about what I do. It was also nice to see some previously retired friends who came back to celebrate with us. You may wonder why my adorable son is not in the photos. He's been on his new job barely a month and was not ready to ask for time off. I saw him last week for Mother's Day, and will see him again for Memorial Day, so I told him not to worry about missing this evening - I adore him and know he loves us too!

Anyhow, it's way past bedtime, and it is supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow, so I'd better get some sleep so I can get in some kayak time! Thanks so much everyone.

An essay worth reading; the state of American education

A little while ago I read a timely, topical blog post worth reading: http://luminouspage.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-ruined-everything-why-it-was-more.html. I don't want to try to explain the post, I just want you to read it.

Thanks to http://mommyactivist.blogspot.com/ for posting the link to this essay. But in the meantime, I left this as part of my comments at the blog post I've linked above:

"This morning an editorial in my local paper (bemoaning the concept of tenure and last-hired, first-fired) made a comment about new young teachers having the energy, commitment, and training evidently (at least in the opinion of this editor) not found in those of us who've been teaching a long time (in my case, 34 years). Evidently the editor has never driven by my school at 6 or 7pm and seen the empty parking lot, except for my car and the custodian's car. Evidently the editor hasn't seen my elementary art room piled to the ceiling with recycled cardboard sculptures, papier-mache flying pigs, shredded paper clay hunks that look like hunks of cave wall, stacks of paintings, and so much more - and, oh - also hasn't spoken to the kids who choose to eat lunch in my room, who stay after school to scrub the sinks, who bring me the last and most special cupcake (no wonder I'm not so skinny any more) who tell me that art is their best time of the day. He hasn't seen me standing on a table trying to hang something from a ceiling, dragging in bags full of stuff for a crazy still life, shopping in the dollar store for toothpaste so I can use it for a crazy batik lesson, and blogging my evenings away with other art teachers when I finally get home to my husband. He says the young teachers have more ENERGY? Then why are they leaving school at 3:00pm? He says they are better TRAINED? Then I guess the experience gained from 34 years spent with kids with every problem and peculiarity imaginable is less valuable than a grad class where you learned the latest lingo? Don't get me wrong - I don't dislike the new young crop of teachers or discredit their education - as a matter of fact I give them massive kudos for choosing a profession that seems to be on everyone's "hit list" these days. But I too went through an era of job cuts and having to start over, and it doesn't mean that I should therefore be the first to go because I am a seasoned veteran and cost a little more to keep around."

I am very worried about what's going on in our country regarding the future of education, worker rights, and collective bargaining. It seems an evil wind is blowing from state to state, and if we close our eyes we will be too late to protect ourselves from it. If my child were planning to be a teacher I'd advise against it right now. The late and great education/union activist Al Shanker must be turning over in his grave at what's happening in our country.