So, what's next?

(Photo taken from petfinder.com)


December is turning out to be a busy month so far. The weather’s been warmer than usual, with nighttime lows in the low 40s. I still have tomato plants flowering. Even my pepper plants are growing new buds. All kinds of cool-weather vegetables are coming up in the garden beds as well.

Northwest Indiana, in contrast, already has had its first six inches of snow.

I’ve been getting errands taking care of during the day. There is always something that needs to get done. I have a perpetual “To Do” list in my head that I choose from when I don’t get that 6am phone call from Bisbee to work for the day.

Monday after a day at the high school I stopped by Safeway to get kitty litter for the Bisbee animal shelter. I stopped to talk to the animal control officer there, Hector, an elderly gentleman, who thanked me for the donation. (Seriously, it was nothing!) Bisbee does not have the money to take care of homeless animals like Sierra Vista does, and comparing the animal shelters are like talking about night and day.

Bisbee’s shelter is an old, small, dark and damp brick building. The kennels look like prison cells out of Baghdad. The cat section is small and the cats there are kept in the dark with little move room. It’s always heart breaking to go to this shelter as it is a kill shelter. The cat kennels were all full. Sierra Vista's new animal shelter on its east side is climate-controlled and provides plenty of room for exercise.

Another young man was waiting for Hector to return from a quick errand. He and I talked for a bit. He had just moved down to Sierra Vista from upstate New York. There he worked law enforcement along the international border, and owned a German Shepherd Dog. He had this dog, he went on, for five years, but the dog was killed in a home invasion. “He was shot in the head…it breaks my heart to think of that to this day” and his eyes filled with tears.

Sam had come to the shelter to look at a German shepherd dog mix named Smokey, a dog he saw on petfinder.com (a great tool for pet seekers; that’s how I got Sara and Sammy) Smokey was the quiet dog, huddled in the corner of his small kennel while the other dogs were barking and jumping. Smokey looked like an older dog, and a very shy dog.

“He looks like a chow mix” I told Sam, pointing at Smokey’s upturned and curled tail. “If he has a black or blue tongue then you know he’s a chow mix” When Hector returned we confirmed that Smokey was an older, shepherd-chow mix.

Sam took the dog out of the kennel for a while and we petted the dog. Smokey’s fur was silky and his disposition very good.“If you want a guard dog you may be a little disappointed in him” I told Sam, “as he seems very friendly” But I also told him that all dogs are by nature protective of their property and their owners, but not all will instinctively attack intruders.

I hope Sam took Smokey home.

Tuesday I registered for spring semester, taking three classes now instead of two: two education courses and one elective, “Native Peoples of the Southwest.” I’ve always wanted to study our Native Americans more and now I’m finally going to. I shied away from any daytime courses to allow myself time to work part-time as a sub teacher, but am thinking about taking an American Literature course as well.

I want to get all my required education courses out of the way by next spring. Then I am taking the summer off from school to travel back to Indiana, to resume my education next fall. I am leaning more and more toward a Master’s in English. I want to take all the lower undergraduate courses now to get a feel of the curriculum I may end up following for later. Having an English discipline would make me more employable than just a German discipline, especially in this part of the state where Spanish is spoken by nearly 60% of the student body.

It was last night, while going over my gmail account (an account I rarely use) that I discovered that another school district had contacted me, wanting to know if I was still interested in a Guest Teacher position. This was the same school I had applied to first back in August. I replied that yes, I was still very much interested.

Does that mean I am leaving Bisbee? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working for the Bisbee district. I like its staff, faculty, students and its teaching philosophy…but for a new teacher the starting salary of $27,000 is just too low when compared to other school districts in the county. Without my monthly retirement check a starting salary of $27,000 would not be doable.

What I like about Bisbee is its sense of community. I always enjoy driving into town to hang out and talk to the locals. I would miss that if I were to change school districts simply because one pays better than the other. However, I have to consider my future employment. I can’t work forever as a mere substitute teacher (where’s the challenge in that?). Substitutes don’t get the respect they deserve, and the work doesn’t add much to a resume. I am ready for the real world challenge of fulltime teaching.

So what is next? A call to this school district, an interview and a potential job next semester? Could I handle a full teaching load with school AND my dog care responsibilities? Life is so full of surprises. Even I am anxious as to what is in store for me.

In two weeks I am driving 1800 miles back to Northwest Indiana, home of my early childhood. Since I’m already registered for classes here I don’t have to return early to register for spring classes. I could very much stay in Indiana until the second week in January, or take my time traveling back across the Great Plains. (That part is never much fun in the blustery winter)

Classes at the college resume on 12 January. My actual schedule will depend mostly on the weather; I will try to avoid all incoming winter storms blowing in from the Upper Midwest. Last winter’s adventure across Illinois was bad enough.

http://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/11/26/news/doc492cd504c7f5a731744476.txt
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2008/12/04/virginia-school-tops-the-best-high-schools-list.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/02/campbell.brown.rendell/index.html