Life as a school teacher has been a bit stressful this month so far. In order to understand this stress, you must know a little of the history of our school. About 10 years ago, we had principal after principal after principal who sucked big time. We're talking being involved in various scandals and illegal behaviors. Needless to say, our school was labeled as a bad school because of it. For the past six years (at least. That's how long I've been there) we've been trying to rebuild the community's confidence in us.
Now, fast forward to March. Our principal informs us that people are moving into the area, but they are taking kids to other schools because they've heard about Aspen Elementary's reputation. Bogus! Thus, in order to build confidence, public relations, and in general remind people that we are amazing teachers, the principal planned activities throughout the month. We've had school wide read-a-thons, dress up as your favorite literary character day, Parent Day, Spirit Day, and tonight we had a pizza party/read-athon/teacher talent show for the community. Not just the kids in our school, but everyone else too.
Apparently the PTA didn't expect such a turnout, because we must have had over 600 people there (I'm sure much more), and the pizza ran out pretty quickly. Our principal (the amazing Brad Davies), in a desire to motivate the students, ran a marathon (of his own design and desire) around the neighboring cities, ending at our school during the party. The entire school and families were outside the building, cheering him on as he ran up the school drive. I won't lie, my eyes got a little misty. And then, after running over 26 miles (he had been running for the majority of the day), he still stopped and gave a tv interview and talked with so many students and parents. This is the day that I realized I have Superman for a principal.
After he arrived, we started the talent show. It was pretty fun and really short. I was originally planning on participating in three skits (out of six total), but cut my solo because we were already half an hour over time. It was epic. We started off with a small faculty group doing "Stomp" (which involved some very rhythmic choreography and carefully timed soundings of school items). To finish off the talent show, Jenn Fletcher, Randa Mortensen, Jessica Lux, and I did a synchronized swimming routine on stage (I was inspired by my ward variety show) wearing swimsuits over our t-shirts, shower caps, and underwater goggles. It was amazing.
Moral of the story: Tonight I realized how awesome my job really is. It's been stressful planning for all of these different things, but we all pulled together and made it a success. Public education at its finest.
