Thank you to Chelsea for kindly removing the all of the coaches' hair for winning.
7 more days
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Teachers and coaches use prods to motivate and push students and athletes to achieve more. I am convinced that young people have to learn what their limits really are, and pushing them to succeed teaches that. So in the past I have offered my hair as a motivation for team achievement. Never had to actually sacrifice it before now. Here is what happens when you make such an offer and the team wins a section championship.
Thank you to Chelsea for kindly removing the all of the coaches' hair for winning.
7 more days
Thank you to Chelsea for kindly removing the all of the coaches' hair for winning.
7 more days
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
For the Future
I have a warning about this post upfront. I will have been writing this over a few weeks time before it is actually posted and made public. There are some events that need to happen before I feel like publishing. I think you will see and understand after I finish.
In the middle of April I turned in my retirement papers to the state of California. I will no longer be teaching at the high school. Thirty years at the high school I "graduated" from, 31 total teaching. I feel like getting a shirt that says, "Finally Graduating!" It's time. Once for a kick I wrote down all of the different classes I've taught and the rooms I've lived in on campus. 16 different classes and 13 rooms. Some of the classes don't exist any longer nor some of the classrooms. The former Auto Shop turned into Photo lab with the leaking roof. The portable classrooms, one with faulty wiring that would short out and another with no ventilation that induced lung ailments. What a cross section of time and spaces. The best will always be Room 81 and the Ladies of the English department. I sometimes wonder what it all gained? New teachers see me as the curmudgeon, older teachers are mostly gone, and the administrators I tried to help by being a team player are retired. At the end we don't seem to remember the team players, just the stars. But I still got to put on the uniform and play.
45 more days
At this time only a few close friends and family know of our retirement. I have told the principal so he may plan for next year. Couldn't tell if he was relieved to have me gone or truly surprised. Once again, I tried to think of the school rather than keep things quiet and not tell him. Yesterday the principal came by with another form. In addition to the state paperwork, I need to fill out a district retirement form. Done.
40 more days
I also found out this week a good Math teacher is leaving for another district. Part, or maybe much, of the decision was the $13,000 raise he will receive, that's over 10%. I know that I didn't go into teaching for money. I know that I make a very good salary compared to most in our poor county. But one can't help but wonder how school district #1 thinks about their employees when nearby district #2 chooses to pay their teachers that much more #1 and doesn't? Or offers a 1% increase while receiving 9.5% new monies? Now you have to trust me when I say I'm retiring not because of a lack of money, but there sure seems to be differences in how districts value people, both teachers and students. As a side note, the superintendent of District #2 mentioned above was just named Administrator of the Year for the county.
38 more days
This has not been a good week. I am angry about a few things and retiring is a great thing to do. Great as in let's get out of Dodge before the school burns. Maybe there are stages of grief in retirement, just as in death. I've been sad, nostalgic and now angry. What's next?
I just read on Facebook that another teacher my age in the district is retiring. They posted a picture of themselves turning in their papers. Hooray for them! It is always interesting to see who leaves the district each year. This one was expected, but not this soon.
24 more days
The principal announced through email he is taking a position at the district office. This had been rumored for weeks. Including him, the school is looking for eight new employees. Not a welcome task. It will be a new school site next year, a whole different feel with the new employees. I hope a group of someones step up and makes the school great again. Again, another sign it is time.
Recently I told a friend I was retiring. Actually he is on the school board and read it in the agenda. It wasn't supposed to be in the agenda, but to the district's credit it was removed before the meeting. Some people saw the retirement notice and mentioned it. Still mostly on the down-low I hope. The friend was a mentor in my teaching and coaching. He was excited for me and us. Another great adventure unraveling.
17 more days
I was just told that my position will have to be "flown," or advertised. This means that it will soon be public that I am retiring. I am not looking forward to this. Tonight we play for the section championship in baseball. Sometime between tonight and early next week I want to tell the baseball team I am retiring from teaching and probably coaching. I think it right and proper to tell of my decision to these young men. I have worked the closest with them this year. Some were expecting to have me in class next year.
10 more days
Four days ago we won the section championship. What a strange season it has been. 19 years ago we won the school's fourth championship. Now we added another and another layer of emotions.
I told the players today that I was retiring from teaching, but I'm still the baseball coach. More emotions. They will get over it quickly planning their championship rings. Tomorrow the principal is having a short meeting to announce another teacher and I are retiring. He's been there about 25 years after a career in the Army.
Maureen announced it on some social media and the responses have been great. Now it will be just getting through each day until the end. Maybe the shaved head will help.
Oh, yeah. I agreed to get my head shaved if we won the Valley championship. Tomorrow after school is the day.
8 more days
In the middle of April I turned in my retirement papers to the state of California. I will no longer be teaching at the high school. Thirty years at the high school I "graduated" from, 31 total teaching. I feel like getting a shirt that says, "Finally Graduating!" It's time. Once for a kick I wrote down all of the different classes I've taught and the rooms I've lived in on campus. 16 different classes and 13 rooms. Some of the classes don't exist any longer nor some of the classrooms. The former Auto Shop turned into Photo lab with the leaking roof. The portable classrooms, one with faulty wiring that would short out and another with no ventilation that induced lung ailments. What a cross section of time and spaces. The best will always be Room 81 and the Ladies of the English department. I sometimes wonder what it all gained? New teachers see me as the curmudgeon, older teachers are mostly gone, and the administrators I tried to help by being a team player are retired. At the end we don't seem to remember the team players, just the stars. But I still got to put on the uniform and play.
45 more days
At this time only a few close friends and family know of our retirement. I have told the principal so he may plan for next year. Couldn't tell if he was relieved to have me gone or truly surprised. Once again, I tried to think of the school rather than keep things quiet and not tell him. Yesterday the principal came by with another form. In addition to the state paperwork, I need to fill out a district retirement form. Done.
40 more days
I also found out this week a good Math teacher is leaving for another district. Part, or maybe much, of the decision was the $13,000 raise he will receive, that's over 10%. I know that I didn't go into teaching for money. I know that I make a very good salary compared to most in our poor county. But one can't help but wonder how school district #1 thinks about their employees when nearby district #2 chooses to pay their teachers that much more #1 and doesn't? Or offers a 1% increase while receiving 9.5% new monies? Now you have to trust me when I say I'm retiring not because of a lack of money, but there sure seems to be differences in how districts value people, both teachers and students. As a side note, the superintendent of District #2 mentioned above was just named Administrator of the Year for the county.
38 more days
This has not been a good week. I am angry about a few things and retiring is a great thing to do. Great as in let's get out of Dodge before the school burns. Maybe there are stages of grief in retirement, just as in death. I've been sad, nostalgic and now angry. What's next?
I just read on Facebook that another teacher my age in the district is retiring. They posted a picture of themselves turning in their papers. Hooray for them! It is always interesting to see who leaves the district each year. This one was expected, but not this soon.
24 more days
The principal announced through email he is taking a position at the district office. This had been rumored for weeks. Including him, the school is looking for eight new employees. Not a welcome task. It will be a new school site next year, a whole different feel with the new employees. I hope a group of someones step up and makes the school great again. Again, another sign it is time.
Recently I told a friend I was retiring. Actually he is on the school board and read it in the agenda. It wasn't supposed to be in the agenda, but to the district's credit it was removed before the meeting. Some people saw the retirement notice and mentioned it. Still mostly on the down-low I hope. The friend was a mentor in my teaching and coaching. He was excited for me and us. Another great adventure unraveling.
17 more days
I was just told that my position will have to be "flown," or advertised. This means that it will soon be public that I am retiring. I am not looking forward to this. Tonight we play for the section championship in baseball. Sometime between tonight and early next week I want to tell the baseball team I am retiring from teaching and probably coaching. I think it right and proper to tell of my decision to these young men. I have worked the closest with them this year. Some were expecting to have me in class next year.
10 more days
Four days ago we won the section championship. What a strange season it has been. 19 years ago we won the school's fourth championship. Now we added another and another layer of emotions.
I told the players today that I was retiring from teaching, but I'm still the baseball coach. More emotions. They will get over it quickly planning their championship rings. Tomorrow the principal is having a short meeting to announce another teacher and I are retiring. He's been there about 25 years after a career in the Army.
Maureen announced it on some social media and the responses have been great. Now it will be just getting through each day until the end. Maybe the shaved head will help.
Oh, yeah. I agreed to get my head shaved if we won the Valley championship. Tomorrow after school is the day.
8 more days
Saturday, May 24, 2014
WE WON!
I apologize for the self promotion.
The Exeter Monarch baseball team is the 2014 Central Section Division V Champions. That is a mouthful. We beat our league opponent, Immanuel 8-4 to complete a roller coaster ride of a season. This was a huge win for team work as all the players were a part of the efforts. Thank you to the coaching staff of Kevin and Peter for their work and putting up with my ever shifting mind.
A season for the ages.
9 more days
Friday, May 23, 2014
Still Playing Baseball
We won our last playoff game 5-1 over Sierra Pacific, so we're still playing. Tonight we play a league opponent, Immanuel, for the section title. In California at this time section titles are the last games played. In the near future a state title game and state playoffs will happen.
We get to play at the local minor league baseball stadium as part of a two day, six division championship weekend. We play in the first of two games Friday and four games will be contested on Saturday. This is the same stadium we played in to win the Easter tournament championship in April. That should mean we are at least comfortable with the surroundings.
And we should be comfortable with the opponent. We have played four times already this year, but have lost three times. Once in at the end of a tournament we lost 7-1, but the rest were either 1 or 2 run games. This is really as even as you can get. We have our most consistent pitcher on the mound, and he beat them the one time we won this year. This will come down to a few mistakes one way or the other and should be a great game.
10 more days
We get to play at the local minor league baseball stadium as part of a two day, six division championship weekend. We play in the first of two games Friday and four games will be contested on Saturday. This is the same stadium we played in to win the Easter tournament championship in April. That should mean we are at least comfortable with the surroundings.
And we should be comfortable with the opponent. We have played four times already this year, but have lost three times. Once in at the end of a tournament we lost 7-1, but the rest were either 1 or 2 run games. This is really as even as you can get. We have our most consistent pitcher on the mound, and he beat them the one time we won this year. This will come down to a few mistakes one way or the other and should be a great game.
10 more days
Monday, May 19, 2014
We Get to Play Again
The baseball team won their second playoff game, 4-0. Tomorrow we travel to play Sierra Pacific. They are seeded #2 and we are #3. Should be fun.
The last game was against a nearby town, Woodlake, that has been a longtime rival. In the last few years their baseball team has been getting better and better. Our pitcher threw a 1-hitter and we got enough hits to push across a few runs to win. Lots o'fun.
The last game was against a nearby town, Woodlake, that has been a longtime rival. In the last few years their baseball team has been getting better and better. Our pitcher threw a 1-hitter and we got enough hits to push across a few runs to win. Lots o'fun.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Another Baseball Game. . .
Yesterday we won our first playoff game and it wasn't fun. The other team traveled close to 300 miles round trip to get beat 20-0. They played as if they expected that to happen. In fact they had only won one game all year that wasn't a forfeit. What were they doing in the playoffs?
The good take away from the game is the exposure of our players to another group of people. The opponents were not bad kids, just untaught in the skills of baseball. They acted and dressed liked the players at the beginning of The Rookie.
For us our players handled it pretty well. A few times they lost focus on what was important. Every player got into the game and many of those off the bench had their best game of the year. It was a team effort and I hope they understood what I was trying to do when I stopped them at 3rd base instead of scoring. The score could have been much worse.
Most bothersome to me was that the day was a near waste. We're playing in a playoff system that doesn't always promote excellence. We would have been better off practicing instead of playing. Today we will have to work at getting the team back on track mentally.
Schools are not in the money-making business, but they shouldn't waste money either. Our school lost money on this game. Our parents and community had to pay to watch this game. We don't charge admission to our games unless forced. 30% of our community's gate money went to the other school. 40% goes to our state athletic federation. Therein lies part of the problem.
We talked a bit about how our players would be just the same if they had grown up with the opponents. For most, that is when the light bulb went on. They saw that what environment does to a person. As I said the opponents weren't bad. Our booster club sent them to a local pizza place for dinner before their trip home. I was told they were polite and reserved and courteous. Seems education is part of the cure with some.
17 Days left
Monday, May 12, 2014
What's Going On?
For baseball the third season begins today. I like to tell the players that we have three seasons: the preseason, the league season and the playoff season. We don't always make the third season, but we did this year. We are seeded 3rd in Division 5 of our section. That's the next to the smallest division. I have no control how the CIF places us, I just get to keep coaching until we win or lose the last game before us.
We host California City Tuesday. I'm glad they have the journey not us. California City is about 140 miles south and east from here. Over the mountains and into the desert near Edwards Air Force base. They and a few other schools are now in our section. I should be gone before we have to make that trip for a game. It should be a exciting playoff run. We have the pitching, but have to wait and see if the hitting and catching keep pace enough to win.
Yesterday, Mother's Day, was spent in the garden. Traditionally on Mother's Day I took the children and Maureen got the day to herself to work in the garden. Yesterday I helped her prepare and plant the corn beds and lay down some more mulch in the walkways.
We host California City Tuesday. I'm glad they have the journey not us. California City is about 140 miles south and east from here. Over the mountains and into the desert near Edwards Air Force base. They and a few other schools are now in our section. I should be gone before we have to make that trip for a game. It should be a exciting playoff run. We have the pitching, but have to wait and see if the hitting and catching keep pace enough to win.
Yesterday, Mother's Day, was spent in the garden. Traditionally on Mother's Day I took the children and Maureen got the day to herself to work in the garden. Yesterday I helped her prepare and plant the corn beds and lay down some more mulch in the walkways.
Let it be known that I am not trying to take credit for the walkway mulching. Maureen came up with the idea to use the waste mulch when our tree was cut down. I'm the brute force, though she has done more of this than I. It should keep the weeds down.
The corn is our idea. Corn is so cheap to buy, it doesn't make sense to grow it. But I wanted to try and if it fails the chickens get some food. Another experiment. And another wonderful day with Maureen in the garden. I'm always reminded of the blessing it is to work with her. We don't always agree on the path, but eventually get to the same place together.
19 more days.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
