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.