It is finished

Friday was Rex's final day of school. It was a struggle to the very end, having to bite his tongue the whole way through. But it is finally finished. The paper work has been submitted. Now, like with everything else, he must wait.

At the beginning of the semester, Rex prayed that OU would show mercy on him and reassign him to another teacher. But OU was never on his side. He had to be sneaky about trying to complete assignments for OU, for if his "cooperating teacher" knew why he presented things a certain way or why he wanted to use a positive reward system or any other approach that was different than her way of doing things, she would staunchly refuse to allow it. When OU clearly jilted him, Rex started praying for those that despitefully used him and focused on turning the other cheek. He swollowed his pride in so many instances, I was awed with his humility and angered by his seeming inability to stand up for himself. It pained me to see him silent when smited. But he took it all unflinchingly, exhibiting the strength of a humble man enduring to the end.

But when his culminating project, The Portfolio, was rejected by OU, Rex could no longer contain his resentment. All he had to do was rewrite his "teaching in context" paper which related his experiences as a student teacher and what he learned in the field. But it was a giant slap in the face to have to recant his experience. In order to pass, he had to swollow his pride once again and write what his teachers knew was a lie so they could save face if the State Department of Education should happen to select Rex's portfolio in auditing OU's education program. Rex did a remarkable job invalidating his experience and was thereby allowed to procede with the application for certification.

And thus is with politics at any level. We pray he will find a school that will allow him to teach in a manner consistent with improving a child's education. We know we are asking a lot, especially when seeking a Title I school in pursuit of the $5K loan forgiveness program. But Rex really needs a good school to rejuvenate his passion for teaching.