Anyway, this post is more about my life after I got
home. It has been about 5 months
since I arrived back in Ithaca. I
went to Israel to dip my toe in the teaching world to see if it was right for
me. I have come to the conclusion
that it is the correct choice for me for a few reasons. For one, I have an ideal personality to
make a good teacher. I am kind,
patient, smart, and a positive role model. A career as a teacher is rewarding and it will give me a lot
of time to do other things, such as traveling, and pursuing other hobbies. Teaching is going to make me very happy
and I will be excellent at it.
Even thought I am almost positive I want to teach, I still wanted some
more experience, so that is what I am doing this year.
Back in February 2012, I started thinking about what I
wanted to do when I returned home.
I decided that I might want to work at the Elizabeth Ann Clune
Montessori School of Ithaca. This
is the school that I attended from when I was about 3 until 12 years old. I know a lot of the staff, and have
connections so I sent the principal an email regarding my interest. She was thrilled. Some more information was exchanged and
soon enough I was signing a contract to work with the after school program with
the upper level age group (grades 4-6).
Let me tell you something about this Montessori school. It radiates love, kindness, and
peace. This may sound corny or
cliché but it is contagious and cannot be avoided. The person responsible for this is Andrea B. Riddle, the
founder of the school.
Andrea was the principle of the school until she died of cancer just
over a year ago. Andrea never gave
birth to a child of her own but she had hundreds of children that she loved and
cared for like her own, me included.
Her life’s work was this school and her love, too, was contagious. One day I was talking to the current
principle, Laura, and we were talking about Andrea and how the school has
rebounded after her loss. We
talked about how sometimes it takes loosing something or someone like that to
bring a community together to thrive.
Not that the community wasn’t already strong, but Andrea was a mentor to
the people there and they had to step up and take the lead when she was
gone. The best part about working
at Montessori is that I too, feel that Andrea is my mentor, I am just a 2nd
generation student of hers. The
staff members who are there right now care so much about the school and its
success. It is inspiring to be
around people who love what they do and it is something many schools lack. One thing that makes an amazing
educator and school is the love and community that is so apparent at
Montessori. People are really
happy there and it is very clear.
If I had one wish I probably wouldn’t be able to make up my
mind. But, I want to sit down with
Andrea today, and talk to her as an adult. Maybe she will come to me in a dream one day and I can thank
her for everything, because I never got a chance to really say thank you.
Leaving Israel I had a job lined up in Ithaca, NY and I
planned on living at home with my parents. But 15 hours a week at the after school was not really
enough and I knew I needed to get another job. I decided to apply to substitute teach in the Ithaca City
School District. Getting this job
was fairly easy since I was once a student in the district and before I knew
it, I was getting called almost every day to sub somewhere. Working in the ICSD has been great but
the difficult part is that I don’t get to work with the same class every
day. However, for the entire month
of January I will be working with a 2nd grade class at South Hill
Elementary. This will be a great
experience and I will work hard to become a better educator.
2 jobs just were not enough. Coming back with this profound experience and new
perspective on Judaism, I wanted to get involved in Jewish education. At first I applied to teach at the
conservative synagogue but I withdrew my application at the last minute because
I thought it would be a little too religious and slightly intimidating. I am also not conservative or a religious
person so it just wouldn’t have been a good fit. Instead, I applied for the Humanistic synagogue call Kol
Haverim, which means “all friends.”
After doing some research and looking into what humanistic Judaism is, I
knew it would be a great fit. The
best part of working with them, though, is that I get to create the 4th/5th
grade curriculum. This is a
challenge and I am learning a ton about what works and what doesn’t and how
long things take and so much more.
I have a class of 4 students and my goal is very simple. My task is to light a spark in my
students minds so that they will be interested in learning and they will continue
to learn later in life. So my job
is to make Judaism fun. I think so
far I am doing a wonderful job and I am impressed with my organization and how
my lessons turn out.
So, I am living with my parents in Ithaca, working 3 jobs,
not spending much money, and saving a ton. Is that fulfilling? It is extremely fulfilling and I am very
busy. But there was one thing that
I was worried about when coming back to Ithaca and living with my parents. What was my social life going to be
like? Most of my good friends
either live in New York City, California, Boston, or elsewhere. I probably wasn’t going to meet too
many people my age where I work.
But it worked out wonderfully.
The after school staff members at the Montessori school are great people
and getting to know them has been wonderful. They are warm and interesting, they like to go out and
socialize, and are very welcoming.
Within the first few weeks of everyone working there we all went to a
potluck. The host, Allie, is Filipino
and mad a ton of egg rolls and other Filipino. This was the first time that some of us got together outside
of work and we have a small community of our own now.
So, after 5 months of being back I am working my ass off,
meeting new people, and having a great experience living back home in
Ithaca.
Now I need to start thinking about my future. In short, I am starting to study for
the GRE and soon I will apply to graduate school in education. I am not sure where I want to go or
what I want to be certified in. I
will figure that out soon enough and the trend of amazing, positive things is
bound to continue in my life. I
want to leave you with a quote that just popped into my mind that should stay
in the background of my life. It
is by Randy Pauche in the book The Last Lecture. He said; “luck is where preparation
meets opportunity.” It is about
living in the moment, seizing the moment, and realizing that good things happen
to people who deserve it.
Recently, a woman has become a part of my life and it may seem like
luck, but really it is the result of seizing the moment and both of us
deserving good things in our lives.
