After a perfect vacation, Eric and I got back to Galveston on Sunday. Not going to lie, I REALLY missed my cell phone and Facebook while we were gone. There is a lot that can happen when you are gone for a week, as I quickly learned when I turned my phone on! I turned my phone on around 7am and it started coming through with tons of alerts for text messages and voice mails. As I looked at my voicemail, there was one from my principal, Susan, so I checked that first. All the said was that she was sure I was concerned about all the phone calls and messages I had gotten that week, so to give her a call. My first thought was that my class had been dropped at Greene due to low numbers and that I would have to move to another school. Yes, I know that I automatically go to the extreme! =)
The next voicemail I checked was from one of the people at HR for Clear Creek saying that they knew I was getting back from my cruise today and wanted me to come in for an interview for an Assistant Principal position at 5pm. "Today? A Sunday? The day before the teachers start school? The day I get back from a cruise?" These were a few of the thoughts running through my mind. After a million phone calls, we got off the ship and I headed home to get ready for my interview that afternoon. Since it was a week before school started, my mind was not in the AP role, it was in the 4th grade teacher role (or the vacation role). I was able to get myself together by the time of the interview. I had interviewed twice before for an AP spot, so I really wasn't expecting to get the job, but was thinking it is always good experience to interview again. I met with a few people from district administration and Kathy, the principal at Ward. I left the interview feeling good, but still not expecting anything to come of it. We went to dinner with my parents and got ready for my first day back at school!
Monday morning was great getting to see the Greene teachers after a summer away. Susan told me to keep my phone close by in case I got a call about another interview. Sure enough, I got a call by 9:00 to come in for a second interview with the Superintendent!!! For some reason, I was much less nervous about this interview than the other one with the district staff and Kathy. The interview with our Superintendent went excellent and I started to realize there was a very good chance I was going to get the job as AP. Things felt very different this time around than the last. Tuesday morning, I got the call that changed my life and current plans for the year! I got a call from HR asking if I would accept the job as AP of Ward Elementary! The hard part was that I couldn't tell anyone until after the board meeting that night. Once the word was official that I had gotten the job as Assistant Principal, the phone calls flooded in. It was a very surreal feeling that everything I had worked for the past 2 years and come true much sooner than I could have ever imagined. I was honored, shocked, proud, nervous, excited and many more emotions!
Wednesday morning, I started at Ward Elementary as AP! I got to meet the staff, tell them about myself and see my office. That afternoon, I went back to Greene and started the long process of cleaning out my room. It was a very bittersweet experience. I would not be the teacher and administrator I am today without Greene. I grew more as a teacher in the past 3 years at Greene than I ever thought possible. I met wonderful friends and coworkers that supported me through stressful times and grew me into a leader. For the next few days, Leslie wouldn't even step foot in my room. We definitely had some separation anxiety =)
Everyone was such a wonderful support that week as I transitioned from one school to another and left the job I had known for 5 years to start a new job. Towards the end of the week, I kept having to remember that Eric had a huge celebration on Friday....GRADUATION DAY!
