Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Two different worlds

I work in education.  I've been a teacher for 24 years now and things in the education field are VERY different from everywhere else.

My daughter is doing an internship at a credit union this summer.  Here she is with the other interns and the incoming and outgoing CEO's having lunch.  See how nice they all look in the company polo shirts?  Yep, we have polo shirts too for our school.  The difference?  We have to buy ours, they were given theirs.

We go out to lunch sometimes as a staff too.  The difference.  We each pay for our own lunch, even if it is a 'working lunch'.  They didn't have to pay.  We get 37 minutes for lunch.  I can tell you how long 37 minutes is because I've shoved food in my mouth, run to the bathroom and helped 14 kids finish a test or do homework in 37 minutes for 24 years.  They took 90 minutes to eat and talk.

In the 24 years I've taught, I don't think I've ever gone out to eat with the Superintendent, incoming, outgoing or just passing through.  I'm sure most of them didn't even know my name.  I try to make an impression on them by greeting them every time I see them and sending emails about the great things we do at our school through the clubs, science fairs or just in the classroom.  I like to let them know the kids are important and that the teachers are really working hard and making a difference.  But it would really be nice to sit down for 90 minutes and talk to my boss about things that are important.

I just think this is so neat that the Big Bosses are taking such an interest in the interns and investing so much time and energy in them.  These kids are learning so much (at least my daughter is) and I really appreciate their investment.

2 comments:

KaHolly said...

I was an educator for all of my career. I finally couldn't take it anymore and took an early retirement without benefits:)! It was such a shame because I loved teaching, loved the kids, loved the work.....hated being a second class citizen.

Farm Quilter said...

I also retired early from teaching my self-contained special ed class where I never got lunch without kids! And lunch was 30 minutes, max! Loved the kids, hated all the paperwork and administration that didn't appear to care about my kids. I have to agree with KaHolly that teachers are second class citizens in the eyes of many...so sad because there are some fabulous teachers out there (some really awful ones too and they spoil things for everyone). Oh well, happily quilting now!