Post by Leanne Wagner: Leanne is leaving Bettendorf High School after 23 years. She has accepted a position as Director of Instructional Technology for Catalyst Schools in Chicago. We wish Leanne all of the best! She will be missed by all! You can follow Leanne @BHS_TL
“In every conceivable manner, the
family is a link to our past, and a bridge to our future.” Alex Haley
It is that
time of the year again, when our students set out to blaze new trails and start
a new chapter in their life. Graduation, celebrations and the last summer
before they head off for college or to begin their working lives. I remember the feeling. I was so proud and happy that I had graduated
high school and was excited about starting college in the fall. As a 17 year old, I didn’t really do a whole
lot of reflecting on my high school career that last summer. I was busy playing softball and well….. being
a teenager. As time for leaving grew
near, the reality of what was about to happen started to hit me. I remember not being able to sleep the night
before I was to leave. I had all of
these doubts about whether or not I could handle the rigorous classes. Would I fit in? What types of friends would I
make? Would I be able to survive being away from the comfort and safety of my
family and home? I remember knocking on
my parent’s bedroom door. My Mom asked
what was wrong and I told her I was nervous and I couldn’t sleep. She said, in her best motherly voice, “You’ll
be fine, get some rest.” I chuckle now
when I think of that exchange. I know
that if those words are uttered by someone who has been cheering you on and
supporting you for your entire life, then they are enough to set your mind at
ease and let you get some sleep. That’s
what families do—make you feel everything will be just fine. I suspect the feelings I had so long ago are
pretty normal for high school students who are getting ready for the next
adventure in their lives.
What about
teachers? The end of the school year represents something different for
teachers. The last day, of course, is
really not the end. Usually the
countdown to the last school day is met with cheers and excitement as a long
awaited rest and break is needed. Most
teachers enjoy time with friends and family, enjoy hobbies, travel and get
things done that they wouldn’t be able to do during the school year. When fall (or early August) rolls around, we
ramp up and get ready for a whole new crop of students who are ready to start
their high school careers.
I’ve been
through this end of the year process 22 times and each year it is about the
same. We don’t say good bye as most of
the time we see our colleagues at one point during the summer, whether it be at
school doing curriculum writing or on some social occasions. When we come back for the start of the new
school year—we catch up with those we didn’t see during the break and talk
about the great summers we had and the feeling that the start of the school
year comes earlier every year. I had
every intention of going through those same activities and emotions at the end
of the 2013-2014 school year. After all
I am a veteran teacher who has been in the same school her entire career. Some things change, people come and go but Bettendorf
High School has been a constant in my life. My colleagues, some of which have been here
as long as I have or in rare cases, a little longer have the routine down
pat. We use the first few days of in-service
to catch up before we get back into the swing of things as the new school year
begins.
But, for me,
this year is much different. I have
accepted a job as Director of Instructional Technology for Catalyst Schools, a
network of public charter schools in Chicago.
The strange thing, I wasn’t really looking to leave Bettendorf High
School. I was happy here and loved my
job, the people I work with and the work that we were doing. Why would I leave? To me, I had the perfect job.
Something
felt different about this opportunity. I
felt a strange yearning to take what I have learned here over the last 23 years
and share it with a group of students and teachers I felt I could impact in a
very meaningful way. My pride in what
Bettendorf High School does, and the culture of community that we have here
made it very difficult to accept this offer. That may sound odd, after all if I
have such strong feelings about what we are doing here in Bettendorf shouldn’t
I want to stay and finish what we’ve started.
Instead, I found myself thinking of ways I could help Catalyst Schools
on their road to transforming teaching and learning. They would be looking to me for help in implementing
a vision that I will help to create.
That’s what it is all about in education, right? I mean education isn’t only about helping
students grow, it’s also an avenue of growth for the very professionals that do
the work on an everyday basis. We work
so hard to improve our craft so that we can challenge our students every day in
our classrooms. I feel, what I can only
describe as an obligation, to take what I have learned and gained here in Bettendorf
and cultivate it in other communities. I
am so very proud of what we have here in Bettendorf and I believe that if I can
help another “school community” to establish the type of educational excellence
we have here in Bettendorf then I have been successful. This opportunity will allow me to both
challenge myself and continue impacting students every day. Sounds like a win-win!
Win-Win
Of course,
now it is nearing the end and I am realizing that again, I will be leaving
home. A home, in which, I have lived
longer than any other place in my life.
A family that has gone through many changes but has been a consistent
source of support and encouragement to me in both my personal and my
professional life. All of my adult life
has been spent here and that makes leaving very difficult. I feel like that 17 year old graduate the
night before leaving. I have some of
those same doubts. Am I making a mistake
leaving? Will I be able to make a positive impact? Will I be able to establish beneficial relationships
with my colleagues? Will I be able to
help teachers integrate technology in a meaningful way? Although these doubts will creep into my
thoughts the next few days, this time, I’m not having trouble sleeping because
age and experience have taught me that when you leave home your family will
always provide the support, love and encouragement that you need. Your family wants what is best for you as a
person and a professional and will support you in any way they can. Just as Mom, Dad and my siblings helped me to
mature into a young person who could take on the challenge of attending
college, my family here in Bettendorf has given me the confidence and courage
to strike out on a new adventure. That
is what is so wonderful about Bettendorf.
I consider the people I work with my family and I know that they have
been helping me to be the best person and teacher I can be and that is not
going to change just because I am changing jobs. Just like the people that I am related to by
blood, my Bettendorf family has been there for me through everything you can
imagine and I will forever be grateful to have them in my life. There isn’t any way that I can thank my
Bettendorf family enough for everything they have given me so I will make this
promise, I will continue to strive to be the best Bulldog I can be and that
will take me as far as I care to go.
I know family
members, regardless of their relationship to you, will only be a phone call,
text, tweet, email or face-time conversation away. And that is the way it should be.
“In
life, a person will come and go from many homes. We may leave a house, a town, a room, but
that does not mean those places leave us.
Once entered, we never entirely depart the homes we make for ourselves
in the world. They follow us, like shadows,
until we come upon them again, waiting for us in the mist.” Ari Berk