Got depressed yesterday.
Shouldn't have, but I did. I am getting old and well, stuff is starting to fall apart on the old body.
No, not dying, but I just can't do "stuff" like I once did and to keep going, well, I'm a salute to the prescription industry. And then got to think, it might be our last trip overseas. I don't know how long I can actually sit on an aircraft crossing an ocean....And that alone is sort of depressing.
I shouldn't have, but I started reflecting back on my time at Buna High.
Oh, I enjoyed the kids, but the rest of the situation, well, it left a great deal to be desired.
I literally felt like an outsider the entire time I was there. And I didn't feel that way when I was at Dayton or even Magnolia.
I know I have written about the " clique" in the past in Buna, but I don't know, I never felt welcome my entire time I was at Buna by the faculty. Maybe it was my teaching style, perhaps it was because I was a non-coaching, non-vocational education male teacher. Buna well, just doesn't have many of those.
There were faculty members on campus who never understood the concept that they were there for the kids. And often I got in trouble when I lobbied for seniors.
Bad trouble.
As students, you don't don't understand the behind the scenes activities that go went on. And we kept it from you. Especially when it involved trying to take care of seniors.....And I got into trouble. So much trouble, I thought one afternoon in March I thought I was going to have to literally fight another teacher in my classroom.
I got to looking back and I can't remember a time in which an administrator came by and thanked me for anything I did. It was just assumed Thomas would " Carry on as Thomas." When I was at Dayton, Magnolia, even Everman, the principal would come by and and personally thank us. Hell, often the Supt. of Schools would loop by just to " See how we were doing." I can't remember a Buna Super ever doing that. And Dayton and Magnolia were much larger districts.
I know when Don Draper in Mad Men was asked about giving thanks, he said " It's what the money is for." Well, he learned the hard way that a little encouragement goes a long way.
In retrospect, I wish I would have left and not retired from Buna. Oh, I do have a couple of people who were on the faculty I am very, very fond of, and pray for every morning, but most of the people I worked with,well, it was just a working relationship. Often constantly adversarial. And I never understood why after being in other districts.
A lot of your best of brightest who graduated from Buna don't live in the district. On purpose.
All of this said, I am going to come to the defense of Buna ISD faculty.
It comes on information that the teachers are going to be asked to remove microwaves, coffee pots, etc from their classroom. Look, one of the few perks at Buna was being allowed a few " creature comforts" in your class, especially when you have to fight 50 other teachers in the teacher study for a lunchtime microwave.
Buna's pay is pitiful. It is at the bottom of Region V's pay list. The few perks they have sometimes make a sometimes unbearable situation a little more bearable.
Look, you want to attract the best and brights, and you want them to stay.
Getting rid of blue-jean Fridays( I didn't wear jeans on Fridays most of the time, but what you wear to teach in really doesn't make that much difference. Trust me, I taught in a district in which men had to wear coats and ties.....and the good teachers were still good, and the bad teachers, well, they still sucked.)
There are some other changes coming that will not only effect the faculty-staff, but the community at large....That said, and yes, it is a teaser, I can't discuss it quite yet, I don't want to get people into trouble. But, we will when it becomes public knowledge.
You have got to remember these changes are being instituted by a person who is a short timer. They are looking for their next job up the career ladder. 2-3 years, they'll be gone, and a new set of " rules" will be initiated.
Okay, I feel a little better. I'd appreciate it if you liked, hated, whatever this blog on Facebook. It helps the algorithm and readership.
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