When I’d finished putting in substitute applications in at all the places I’d already applied for full-time positions, I started throwing more resumes at every opening I could find in TX, OK, and even UT, no matter what the pay or location. (Yes, desperate enough for UT.) Rex kept telling me to stop, that I’d done enough and it was in the Lord’s hands now. He'd been telling me that for a long time. But I couldn’t stop. It was like back in high school when I would do hours and hours of homework and break down and cry and cry, and then get back to work doing more homework. I was obsessed; I still had to fix the problem. I told him I’d stop at the end of September, because I knew by then that the door would be closed. (I knew from last year's experience. There's NOTHING between October 1st and November 30th. Then there's a trickle again until February when it almost completely stops until May.)
Interview #50: On Friday, September 10th, Rex had an interview at Brazos School for Inquiry and Creativity in Houston. I had seen an opening for a 5th grade position at the NW campus of this charter school and submitted it August 28th. The website didn’t give much information, and I didn’t think much of it until we got a phone call for the interview. Still, I figured it was just another interview he wouldn’t get.
I felt indifferent about it until he came home from the interview and told us how it went. Like many of the other interviews, it went incredibly well. First, the assistant principal (Ms. Skates) interviewed him because the principal (Mrs. Rock) had to take care of something that came up. She obviously loved all of Rex’s answers and asked him to stay for a few hours till Mrs. Rock was available. So he drove around that area of Houston until the 2nd interview which went even better than the 1st. They took him in to the 7th grade class where the 6th graders were until they got a new teacher. While there, one of the students asked the principal who Rex was and she said, “He’s your new teacher.” So we were surprised when she didn’t call to offer him the job that evening when she said she’d call. By Saturday evening, we knew it was like all the others, and she wasn’t going to call at all. No big deal; it was in Houston after all and I was no longer holding my breath for any jobs because my hope was hanging by a thread. And so what if the principal blatantly led him to believe she was going to hire him. Many others had done the same. But as I was reading bedtime stories that night, she called and offered him the job. He was so excited to get a job, he barely asked any details. All he knew was that it started on Tuesday.
Personally, I think he got this one because they actually WANTED someone that got into the profession for the express purpose of teaching kids and making a difference. All the other schools wanted a pal.
So Megan started crying and couldn’t go to sleep for 2 more hours. Rex and I cried for joy and sorrow. We didn’t get to bed till really late because we were looking up apartments and hotels online and learning what we could about the area. The next day, Rex called the bishop of the ward assigned to that area and talked to him about moving there. The bishop offered his home, but Brian Hooper hooked Rex up with Annie’s cousin Lynnette and her family.
Lynnette and Craig live about 45 minutes from his school by toll road. They offer their home to many people who relocate to Houston and they are very kind and generous. While there, Rex found a 1-bdrm apartment but the electricity won’t be on till this Wednesday so Rex will continue to stay with them until it gets turned on.
When I discovered what kind of school Brazos was, I started to regret ever having applied. It is the kind of school kids go to after they’ve been kicked out of regular public school. This is their last chance and if they get in trouble while at Brazos, they more than likely get sent to juvi. It turned out that the 5th grade position at the NW campus must have been filled because the job he interviewed for (and got) was 6th grade at the SW campus.
This campus is 6th-12th, although the middle school and high school are sort of separated. His kids are all 11 to 13-year-olds. But apparently there are some 18-year-olds in 8th grade, and some 21-year-olds in 12th (since, legally, you can be in high school till you turn 22.) Rex only has 8 kids in his class, but any more would be too many. The other classes have 10. There is only one class per grade. 6th grade is self-contained (but the other grades are not), and in addition to all the core subjects, he also teaches art and computers. He only gets a conference/planning period every other day. The kids get off the bus at 7:15 and leave at 4pm, each “period” being 75 minutes. It makes for a very long day. He has books but no curriculum, so he has to figure out where these kids are and make up everything himself. They don’t have any computers on campus but there is a community center down the road, so he walks them all down there twice a week for computers.
The 3 African American kids and the 5 Latino kids hate each other and stay separated at lunch time. There is no cafeteria so they go outside and a truck comes with hot lunch, which, of course, is free (but the snacks are not free and they eat more of the junk food than the real food). When Rex came home this weekend, he had already picked up some of their speech patterns, even the neck bob thing blacks do when they talk. He said even the teachers and administrators speak low-English. In fact, one of the kids told him that he talked funny. He doesn’t know how he’s going to overcome that in their writing. Even when the kids read out loud, they skip words to fit their way of talking.
The kids are disrespectful and never stop talking. Rex said when he finished his first day and the principal asked how it went, he said, “I think they won that round.” But he didn’t even have any lesson plans or anything that day. The second day, he was a little more prepared with stuff for them to do, and he was much harder on them. The third day was much better and he said the vice principal came in while he had them all gathered around him reading a book. They are very loud and when they are not engaged, they fight with each other. One kid takes meds for ADHD but obviously forgot to take them 2 out of the 3 days. The 4th day was a staff-development day.
On top of the stress of an over-the-top-challenging class, I worried about Rex taking care of himself. Now when I met him, he was living out of a suitcase and sleeping on the floor. When we got engaged, we argued about what bare-minimum meant, and to him, it meant a roof over his head and enough food not to die. I know he could survive, but could he live? After all, I’ve been taking care of arrangements, finances, meals, etc. for so long, I don’t know if he would even think about such things. When I talked to him on the phone, he knew I’d be asking if he ate something that day, and thankfully the people he is staying with cook him dinner….
Okay, so maybe I underestimate his ability to take care of himself. I was kind of surprised he was able to nail down an apartment in a week’s time without my help. Especially since he doesn’t have access to a phone at school and must use our [laughable] cell phone for everything, and he can’t make phone calls till after 4pm and apartments close like around 5 or 6pm.
I worried about him all week. I thought I’d sent him to his doom. I didn’t know if he could jump right into the lions den and tame them or if they’d take a bite out of him. I know he’s not a quitter, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t kill him. This was a whole different game than 4th grade in Northside. I was so scatterbrained that when I went grocery shopping, I put all the bags in the trunk and then started putting them all back in the cart before I realized what I was doing. I no longer needed to sit at the computer checking for openings at the 80 districts I’d applied for or sifting through websites for other openings or filling out new applications…that I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. Oh, sure, I had a ton on my to-do list, but I’d been putting much of that on the back burner for so long that I hardly even referred to it anymore.
But it turned out my worrying was in vain. Rex loves his new job. He is glowing! I think this is where he is meant to be. Maybe not forever. But he can heal and learn and grow in this environment. (You know it’s really hard to heal from a wound when it’s still raw. I think getting back in the game, especially with completely different rules, is really the only way to get over the hell he went through.)
The #1 thing is that the staff is excellent. They are there because they care. And they are all fun people. Just like Rex, they all love to joke and laugh, and the politics is zilch. They didn't have school on Friday but they did have a staff meeting -- Rex said he'd never had so much fun at work in his entire life. Everything in this new environment is completely opposite from his previous experiences. The other teachers are not only fun, but they are also helpful and supportive. The classrooms are super tiny, and the principal (assistant principal?)'s office is adjacent to Rex's room. They, the principal and assistant principal, as well as the 7th grade reading teacher check in on him frequently, making sure he's okay and offering help if he needs it. He has already gotten compliments from the staff and they tell him he is doing fine. He already feels part of the family (middle school and high school combined, even maintenance). I was so happy when they breaked for lunch, Rex went out to eat with the other two men while all the women went their way. I was so happy to know he was accepted and included, and it didn’t matter if he was married or not, black or white, rich or poor. These people are the kind of people all teachers should be. (What a shame such professionals are rare!)
I am afraid he might love it so much that he'll want to stay there next year or permanently. I am afraid mostly because it doesn't pay that well. Rex still isn't quite clear on everything, but it's about a $12K pay cut from what he made at Northside. I don't know, but I assume they don't pay through the summer (but then that means a bigger monthly check since it’s spread out over fewer months). I don't think he's on a contract but I don't think so. He also doesn't know about benefits. I am trying not to think about next year, but I think this could be the biggest stepping stone he could have been given. From where I'm standing, I am hoping something bigger and better comes along next year. Maybe KIPP will want him after he’s got a year like this under his belt. But going somewhere else could be like going back to the horrible political arena he just left. The hardest part of finding a good job is finding a place with good people. So, if he loves it so much he doesn't want to leave, I may consent to downsizing and moving out there. After all, he wouldn't have made any more if we'd stayed in Oklahoma. And what matters most is that he likes where he is. For now, we're not ready to think about moving or anything beyond this year. Rex's parents will stay and we'll see it out till the end of the school year and go from there.
The principal was happy to approve of his day off in a couple weeks, excited to hear he needed it to take a certification test. Last month, we paid for him to take his spec ed test, hoping that would open up more doors. The principal said that if he was spec ed certified, he could get a district job that paid more. I don't know anything more about that. But so you know, the "district" refers to all 3 charter schools within Houston under the name Brazos in different sections of the city.
I just hope no more schools call offering interviews. This afternoon (Sunday), a middle school on the other side of San Antonio called for Rex. Rex didn't even hesitate turning down the interview. He's committed to his 6th graders in Houston. But it's hard for me, thinking maybe he could have gotten a higher paying, much closer job. I know where he is right now is where he is supposed to be. But that doesn't prevent it from hurting when something else is dangled in front of me.
Rex had a ton of stories for us Friday night. I haven't laughed this much since before Northside. Heck, I haven't seen him this happy since before Northside. He has to make up his own curriculum and the kids are tough, extremely tough. But he likes them. He says he is so awed by these kids and is learning so much from them. I think the best part of teaching them is that he can do it his way; he is not on a schedule dictated by the state test. Sure, they still have to take the TAKS tests, but that is secondary to everything else. All other schools, TAKS is all consuming and it drives everything about education. But this is the real deal. And it sounds a LOT like Stand and Deliver or To Sir With Love. Of course his first goal is to get the kids under control, and it sounds like he is already making some headway in just the first week. He's not there yet, but the staff has taken notice and assured him he is doing well. He is so excited. And I am SO relieved I didn't send him to his doom. In fact, seeing him as alive as he was this weekend, my stress melted away. Because he is happy again, I am happier than I have been in years.
It was a great weekend. But he just left, so of course I'm sad. Megan seems okay right now, but Thursday and Friday she was a mess. Throughout the week, her moodiness and fits have increased. I think this will be hardest on her than any of us. Looking forward to next weekend….
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