I’ve been working as a one on one paraeducator for about three years, and there’s a pattern of kids moving on. I worked for a year at Madison Elementary, and the kid moved on. The district reassigned me to McLane Elementary. After a year (and some change) the kid moved on. I spent the summer in Displaced Worker limbo. Then the district told me that a position was opening back at Madison, but I would have to interview for it. Although this was an annoyance because I was not used to simply being assigned a position, I had two aces up my sleeve.
At the conclusion of the interview they asked if I had any questions. I pulled out two letters of recommendation… from two of the interviewers in the room and asked, “Recognize these?”
They called to offer me the position later that afternoon.
I worked in 3rd grade, helping the kid and the others in the classroom or on the playground or in the lunchroom. I already posted the picture of my debut during the assembly. So let’s fast-forward to the 2nd week of school, the Monday after the two trips to Tacoma.
I showed up, but the kid wasn’t there. The special ed. teacher said that he had transferred to Lincoln.
Hmmm. What does that mean for me? It’s still in the Olympia School District, right. Sure enough, HR and Special Services confirmed that my contract means one on one with the student not the school building.
I spent the remainder of the day helping other kids, but drove myself over to Lincoln to get acquainted with the situation: staff, building, schedule, etc. The principal asked if I could start the next day. My philosophy was: I should be two steps ahead of him instead of running to keep up.
Lincoln was, in many ways, just like coming home. The classroom had a loft (like Orion’s school) and felt dolls. They work with beeswax and finger knitting. In fact, many former Waldorf parents and educators are now Lincoln parents and educators. The physical building reminded me of my old elementary school, Metropolitan Learning Center (MLC) in Portland that I’ve mentioned in previous blogs. It also had three stories, so there’s lots of stairs to climb each day. The Lincoln philosophy is similar to MLC’s, Waldorf’s and Evergreen’s.
Then the teacher gave me an outline of the schedule. “The first recess is from 10:30 until 11, and…” Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Hold Up! It’s WHAT? I had to steady myself. Did she just say it was a HALF AN HOUR?! Every other school has 10 whole minutes for recess. This place is really putting a high value on PLAY!
I attended the first weekly assembly and nearly fell over again. There’s a parent/ teacher band EACH week. With drums, cello, guitar, bass, banjo, etc. Mclane had a piano (with a candeabra)! Though they often use a CD. Madison sometimes had a guitar. But this was a BAND! A band with a CD out. With a White Stripes cover song on it!
Check out “We Are Gonna to Be Friends“mp3
