Job Accepted!

Texas was very, very good to me! I had 4 interviews last week while back home in the Lone Star State. All 4 schools wanted me to come work for them. What a blessing! In Huntsville, I interviewed for a head girls basketball position that would be a great job in a strong program but still a pretty tough teaching load (6 classes of a about 25/class). In the end, they really wanted me to come work there but gave the coaching position to someone else within the school and counter-offered with an assistant soccer coaching position. I am declining this position on the mere fact that I wouldn't be able to coach basketball and because I'm a little insulted to interview for a position like that and not even be offered an assistant basketball position. In Hempstead, I spent the least amount of time interviewing. That interview was only about 45 minutes long and was completely conducted in their library. They initially offered only assistant football and baseball positions but came back with an official offer that included assistant girls basketball. They were very cold and fairly inhospitable compared to the other schools I interviewed with. I declined their offer, as well. In Caldwell, I spent the better part of 2 hours interviewing and chatting with the athletic director in an office as well as while we toured the facilities. We got along really well and, as of today, I am the only coach he interviewed for their head girls basketball coach opening. The problem is, they don't have a definite Spanish teaching position open and were not able to get the Spanish teacher they have that might leave to make a decision. So, I am not able to wait around to see what will happen with that job even though it's the one I wanted the most. The fourth interview I had was in Franklin. Franklin is a 2-AA school just east of Bryan. They have a brand new campus for their 300 students. They have almost no discipline problems and the average class size is 15 students. I would also be teaching the upper levels of Spanish so my Spanish 3 and 4 classes would probably be even smaller than 15. Right now, I have a total of 215 students. There, I would probably be lucky to have 60. Also, being a brand new campus, it's also state-of-the-art technology in the classroom. On top of all that, I would be the JV girls basketball coach and also coach a second sport. I've accepted this job and am extremely excited to be there next year. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers!

The Job Hunt

So, I have 4 job interviews in the College Station area next week. I'm not nervous about the interviews themselves but a little anxious about the outcomes. I'm not a very patient person, in general and so it would really help out my peace of mind if I could come back from Texas with at least one job offer. I realized today that I'm interviewing at a 1A, 2A, 3A and a 4A school. That's not important but kind of interesting because I attended and have always worked at a 5A-size school. I think it will be interesting to see what it's like to teach and coach at a smaller school. Things will be even better if I can get an offer for a head coaching position. It might be a little rough going back to just being an assistant. Now, I have to play the waiting game for getting to the interviews.

Separation

So, it's strange the curve-balls that life seems to throw at people. Just when you feel pretty settled in to the way life is, the waters get stirred. At least, that's how it tends to happen for me. That's how it was a couple of years ago. I had finally gotten settled in to being a teacher and a basketball coach and just the everyday triumphs and challenges of life and we decided to move to Delaware. Then, after starting to settle in to the way things work here and making decision about what I need to do to make life work around here, another curve-ball. Now, the prospect of being a single parent back in Texas and being 1500 miles from my boys has definitely stirred the waters of my life. There's so much more to go with that. I'm praying that God will show me the way.