Whilst I wait for the washer to finish so that I can lug a couple loads of laundry to the laundromat to dry...I'll talk a bit about School A.
This is my fourth year at this school--I'd been at my previous school....we'll call it Sham, for 9 years. having started there when it opened in 2000--and I'd only left because with declining enrollment, my hours had gone from 6/day to 4/day (and I was working p/t at a call centre--horrible work but I met some awesome people). School A became available when the LT there decided to retire. I put in for the transfer and because I was the most senior to apply for it, I got the job. (Yes, we are unionised.)
The principal at School A, K, was a man I'd known from my High School--he'd taught English and then after I'd graduated, became a VP. So, once it was confirmed the position was mine, I was asked to call him as a courtesy--which I did. Amazingly enough he remembered me from HS, though he'd never taught me nor had me in his class for a spare. (My last name is unique for the area--ie my family are the only ones around with it, plus my parents had owned a convenience store nearby--everyone knew that. I swear I wasn't a bad kid.) Anyhow, talked with K, then went to visit the school for their end of year staff meeting. That allowed me to talk to the retiring LT about things, too.
A few days after school ended, I was at my house/pet sitting gig (an EA I worked with at Sham and her hubby who happens to be the CFO for the school board; they're lovely folks, both of them), when K called to say he was thinking of rearranging the library but figured I might want some input. I laughed, said yes and we arranged for a day for me to come up and look around, then talk to K (he and the VP, S, were doing interviews).
The previous LT had had shelves blocking her into her desk, you couldn't see the kids if you turned around. Even though she could've been automated, she still did book card sign out, and kept a huge desk in the middle of the floor for that...and a few other things. Anyhow, whilst K & S did their interviews, I looked around, noted what I would change. When K came over, turns out what I wanted to do was pretty much what he'd planned on doing--even a bit more. So, both of us were happy. I told him I planned to be fully automated--I'd been so at Sham, wasn't going to change here. He liked that idea; in fact, when S came over, he looked at her and said, "Good news! We're moving into the 21st century, no more book cards!"
Oh, the work to be done in that library. In weeding the collection on the shelves, I took ~6000 books out of circulation (my favourite example: a book, ©1957 about the Malasite INDIANS of NB. Yeah.) Plus there were two magazine racks (big metal ones with slanting slide down shelves, 5 shelves per) that were packed full of donated books. Didn't track how many thousands I got rid of there. By my second year, I ended up with a great volunteer and between us, by the end of last year, I'd gotten through the worst of the mess and moved even more stuff around to make the library nice and open looking. I've only gotten compliments on what I've done with it. K LOVED it. I even had one of the regular subs (PD's former principal--he retired), comment on it "The library looks SO much nicer now, so open."
Anyhow, I came to adore K--not everyone, esp parents did. But that's because he thought he was right most of the time (and he was--and if he was wrong, he'd own up to it) and had no trouble telling students OR parents what was what. When kids were sent to the office, they didn't get a treat if they'd misbehaved (as they had at Sham). I think what sold me on him initially, was the day that first oct/nov; I was working away in my library, when K came over the PA, announcing that a small blue plastic hockey stick had been lost upstairs--could teachers check students' bags and if it was found, to send the perpetrator to the office. I literally stared, open mouthed at the PA in my room--the word perpatrator would never have been used at Sham.
Okay, wash is finished... this will be con't ... later. Cus we've had some ch-ch-changes.
No comments:
Post a Comment