My last post was roughly 18 months ago, and I don’t have a legitimate excuse for the hiatus. In my defense let me say that the last year and a half has been one of the most professionally challenging of my 40 year career. 

Two years ago my outside tutoring business got very busy.  With the enticement of extra income I soon had so many students that I was scheduling appointments until 8 o’clock four evenings a week. All was well and good for the first month or two; then the long hours began to take a toll on my health.  By the end of the 2013 school year I was both mentally and physically exhausted.  As the 2013-2014 school year began I decided that I could handle the extra load of tutoring if I meet my students at a local library instead of going to their homes.  This cut down on my driving time and allowed me to more comfortably fit 3-4 students a night into my schedule four days a week.  By Christmas vacation I realized that the savings in travel time did not make a great enough difference to spare me from weekly exhaustion. .  By the end of the 2014 school year I was in more physical distress than I had been the year before.  It took me almost the entire summer to recover.

In part because of my wife’s insistence, I have cut down my tutoring time to two days a week, about six hours in total.  I have already turned down several new students.  This new arrangement should be better for my mental and physical health.  I will see students on Tuesday and Thursday; getting home early on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I have committed to a health club work-out at least twice a week and, at the recommendation of my doctor, set up an appointment with a cardiologist.  If all goes well I should begin to feel better soon.

Along with my physically challenging second job, the past two years have been stressful and unpleasant at my primary teaching position.  Our former administration had destroyed school morale with a series of sweeping academic changes opposed by a majority of the staff.  This resulted in a large number of “retirements” among the experienced staff as well as several irrational forced departures among those too young to retire.  Some of the firings we so misguided that the school suffered significant damage to academic programs in the building as a result.  When it was announced last spring that the current principal was leaving a wave of hope spread through the school; although it was too late to save those whose jobs had been cut and whose careers had been destroyed.

At this point the new principal is working hard to rebuild staff morale and community.  He has, where necessary, altered academic policies implemented by his predecessor.  While some were adamantly opposed to his hiring, many have come around to realize his effectiveness as a leader.  His predecessor made sure that all contracts were finalized before he took control, leaving him little opportunity to help those who were so unfairly discharged. In time he may even be able to reverse some of the injustices done to former staff.