It's that time where we gear up for a few months of summer break rest. This school year has been the most solidly enjoyable and draining year since I decided that this profession chose me. I debuted this website (feel free to look back on the page and check out some earlier writings) and it's been a welcomed avenue to share what I've learned and what I'm putting to practice in my classroom and theater. I'll keep it brief because this is Finals, and Graduation, and end-of-year-festivities week and I have work to do!
A healthy dose of our population has no idea what we educators go through. They simply don't. They simply don't want to. We're in a profession of service and art and criticism and a slew of other hats we weren't trained to wear. Yet, I am proud of us for showing up to our classroom every day, mustering energy we may or may not have, smiling a smile we may or may not be faking, and laughing at a joke we may or may not find funny.
I'm a firm believer that if there was any other job offered me, that paid more, had less days of work, and provided a less stressful workplace environment, I'd choose to be the Theatre teacher at Bullard High School every time. I teach at a school which acknowledges its areas for improvement, that deeply cares for its students and educators, and offers avenues for life readiness, whether your future includes college, the workforce, family life, or military service. I get up each morning because it's never a dull day in my classroom, and I know many of my colleagues, administrative superiors, and students feel precisely the same as I do.
School has the potential to be a student's safe place, an enriching environment, a hub of culture unlike any other hub in your city limits. As of this Friday, I will have completed my first full year of teaching in a classroom with students in person. I am more exhausted than I have ever been, but have felt more overjoyed that this profession chose me. My students have shown up when I needed them most; my colleagues have supported me when I needed them most; my students' parents and guardians have shown up when our program needed it most.
"Marc, stopping bragging, bro. Yay for you! You seem to have it good, why throw it in my face?" Because I hope that if you don't have the same environment as I, you take this summer to do something about it. Life's too short and teaching is too tiring to wade through like a snail through molasses. Find the campus that best suits you; find the school that thrills you even when you fake the smile or yawn for the umpteenth time. We get to be teachers, and we know what we go through, so let's go through it together.
But after summer. Go, enjoy your break, rest up, and I'll see you in the Fall. The classroom will still be there, and I hope you will too.
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