Why did I ever teach anywhere else!???!!!!!

WOW! To all of you still comtemplating teaching in Minnesota in the new era in which we live, I tell you that had I known the first welcome day for new teachers would be like this, I would have never even graced the schools in Minnesota that I did. I would have stepped straight onto a plane and never looked back.

My day was awesome. I didn't make any new friends as intended, but no matter. That kind of thing took me two years at my last job, and even then they were just beginning to blossom into friendship. So that's okay. I did meet a couple women from the Philippines who will be teaching middle school math -- they even invited me to sit with them. I felt so loved.

But -- my day. First of all, we were in a middle school in Henderson, and when I arrived 45 mintues earlier than the first speech was scheduled for, the parking lot was already full. I pulled into a nearby church parking lot (where I received forgiveness for all the things that will stay in Osh-Lash-Vegash). And I began my trek into the world of my new school district.

Breakfast was provided -- actually catered. Not so at my last place of employment. There we received stale muffins from the local bakery -- nice and thoughtful, but not delicious. Here there were fruit plates, your choice of 5 different juices, three types of coffee, and many lovely pastries of which I only ate one. Yum.

Then we all listened to some people speak -- here's the kicker. The principal of the school we were meeting in has lived and worked here for 12 years. And he told us all that, like many of us, this had been sort of a Plan B. (lots of relieved laughter here, since I think that is the case for many people, me included). He was originally from upstate New York, and most of his friends who stayed put in the NY state are just recently coming into stable positions in the schools they've subbed at. He, however, is finishing off his something year as this school's head administrator and will be moving to a new NEW school this fall. Wow.

We broke into groups first by geography -- so I was in a room with other Midwesterners -- from MN, IA, WI, N and SD. There were maybe 40 people in the room, and as we went around and introduced ourselves, I noticed that approx. 25 of those people were from MN. And all of those people said that they were so happy to finally have a full time job, they were so excited not to be subbing anymore, etc. I felt a little bashful as the ONLY one from MN who had previously had a full time job in our home state.

Then there were some blah mixer games, which I normally like, but were not of hte fun or creative quality that I have become accustomed to at UB in the summer. Blah, blah, blah.

THEN! The big ticket came up. Free lunch catered by a local BBQ place with awesome desserts by a local bakery (NOT stale) and cake. But here's the big deal, folks. There was a raffle drawing. I was assuming it would be for a few gift certificates, maybe one big prize. And I was technically right. Technically.

They were giving away tickets to Mystere, cruises on Lake Mead, flights over the Grand Canyon, gift certificates to LOTS of restaurants, certificates to hair salons, baskets from Barnes and Noble, goody baskets from the bakery that had supplied our desserts, and (drumroll) a check for $1,000. No gimmicks, just $1,000 cash.

No, I did not add an extra 0. But I would like to add that at my previous place of employment I received one Horace Mann magnet and one Horace Mann pen.

It is true that I did not win any of these glorious prizes. That part is of little importance. The important part is that the chance to win something so awesome was made available. They must have given out at least 100-150 prizes of some level. Wowsers.

It is with that last piece of note that I am left wondering what will happen to education in MN? How will my homestate survive? There is no way you would find a district in MN that would be able to put out this kind of welcome mat. The money just doesn't exist. And I would add that if you did see this kind of thing in MN, it would be an extreme WASTE of education funds -- they need to use those things to pay the few teachers they have left, and recruit more counselors (which they seem to always be doing for some reason).

So my final thought (or maybe not final, that remains to be seen with the rest of the week) on this topic is, why did I ever bother with MN? I know the answer -- because I thought that was how my life would turn out. But when there are awesome teaching jobs in other places in the country, why would I have ever stuck around and been part time again? Why would I have tried to glue together a job out of 6 different .17 positions? The job I wanted as a teacher was waiting right here for me. As someone who never thought she would move out of MN, I have to honestly say that I'm very proud of myself for making this choice with Buckwalter. There will be a job for him here. There is a job for me here. Why would we settle for anything else? Booya. Advantage us.