Transition

I will never forget my first year of teaching at Varina High School.  That was the first time that the word transition became a part of my every day life.  Chris Martin, who had been a mentor to me when I was in high school, was my department chair.  He put me in the amazing position of being a 12th grade English teacher, and the COWEP teacher. He handed me a book about transition and told me I would be great.

I was overwhelmed. I was terrified.  The immense responsibility of holding the future of these young men and women in my hands was just so heavy.  I recall looking out at the sea of faces, barley 22 myself, most of them 19 and 20, and wondering how on Earth I was going I pull this off.

I remember opening the book about transition and writing my first lesson plan.  I was hooked, I loved it. I had clearly found my niche and was able to truly empower students by teaching them the basic skills they would need to find a job, or a house, by helping them find who THEY wanted to become.

Those years were magical.  I founded a partnership with the maintenance department and we painted, and raked, and cleaned.  We learned to fill out time sheets, job applications, create resumes, and perhaps most importantly, we learned to work together.

I think my favorite partnership was with Battlefield Park.  Watching my students interact with the rescue dogs was one of the best experiences of my life.  Seeing them truly learn how to work as a team, and watching them fall in love with the dogs.  I knew that the students that were with me on that job site had learned the most valuable lesson of all - compassion.   That skill, learning compassion, would be the skill to ensure that their transition into adult life would be successful.

When I left Varina, I knew that not only would I be leaving a community that I loved, but that I would also be stepping away from my role as a transition teacher.  It was hard.  I have learned a lot about myself in the past 3 years.  I fulfilled another life long wish.  I had always dreamed to work at the Academy at Virginia Randolph.  While working here I have taught with some truly amazing and talented people, and I have worked with some young people that I will never forget.  Some that have changed me forever.  

I have missed that sparkle of hope that I see in a student's eyes when I take them to a job for the first time, or when they get their first paycheck. I have missed the aspects of transition in my daily life. 

I have been offered an amazing opportunity.  I have been asked to be the Transition Teacher for the Central West Zone.  I will be working with students, and their teachers on a plan that will best meet their needs. I will be empowering young people every day, giving them the tools and resources that they need to transition to adult life. I will be a member of the Central Office Staff.  I will be working with people who I have respected and admired for years.  I am truly swept off of my feet by this opportunity.  I am honored beyond words.  

I have to admit that I am also sad, I won't have a classroom - I won't have stories of "my kids" and what shenanigans occur.  This will be a difficult transition for me, so much of who I am is wrapped up in being a teacher in the traditional sense.  The change is happening very quickly, by the end of the month I will be in my new position - and my students with a new teacher.  I began breaking the news to them today.  It has been an emotional roller coaster.

Even with the ache of saying goodbye, I am so excited to start this new adventure.  It feels like my entire career has been leading me to exactly this moment.