When I announced that I would no longer be writing my weekly newspaper column in the Boone County Journal nearly three months ago, I gave one simple reason for my decision: “I have nothing of value left to say.” The truth, of course, is not quite that simple.
After writing hundreds of opinion pieces, political
commentaries, and personal essays over the course of a decade, it became
increasingly difficult to come up with new material each week. My readers deserve
original and compelling content, not repetition, and continuing my column
risked wasting my readers’ valuable time.
So, for the last few months I have written nothing more than
an occasional status update or photo caption on Facebook. Free from the
pressure of delivering fresh, weekly content for my newspaper audience, I
should have been doing some creative writing or at the very least compiling my
most recent columns into a fourth volume of collected works. Instead, I have spent
most of my summer trapped in a dark and difficult funk, and therefore I have
written nothing—until today.
A few short weeks ago I was perusing help-wanted ads,
looking for an excuse to get out of the house a few hours per week. After
stepping away from substitute teaching last year in order to help look after my
beautiful grandbaby Freya, I felt that nine years in the classroom was enough
and that it was time to move on to something else. My career as an educator was
over.
When my phone rang on July 12, I was surprised to see “Southern
Boone Elementary School” on the caller ID. In nearly a decade of subbing, I had
never taught in the elementary building, and it had been five years since my youngest
child Truman had been a student there. Curious, I answered rather than sending
the call to voicemail.
The voice on the other end of the line was that of Principal
Amy James. Dr. James was calling with an intriguing offer. Due to increased
enrollment, the decision was made to add a ninth fourth grade classroom for the
coming school year, and Dr. James wanted to know if I would be interested in
teaching the class.
The terms of my employment would be the same as they were
when I accepted an offer to teach music next door at the primary school during
the 2019-2020 school year. Because I possessed a valid substitute certificate,
I would be allowed to teach full-time for one year under a provisional
emergency certificate due to the fact that no candidates with a permanent certificate
applied for the position.
Taken aback, I asked Dr. James to let me talk it over with
my family before giving her an answer. Of course, my wife and kids were in
total agreement that I should take the job. I consulted a few of my teacher
friends who also, without hesitation, told me to go for it. And in my own heart,
I knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I would be a fool to
turn down. I called Dr. James the next day and accepted the position.
Soon thereafter, I had an epiphany. I could write about this
unique experience, not in a weekly newspaper column, but in the form of a book.
Would readers be interested in following the story of a 50-year-old, quasi-retired,
substitute teacher as he takes on the challenge of becoming a full-time, fourth
grade teacher?
Would you, dear reader, be interested in such a story? I
hope so, because I am going all-in on this plan. Having never taught kids in
grades 3-5, teaching fourth graders will be an eye-opening and brand-new
challenge for me. And I guarantee it will be a year fraught with mistakes,
foibles, folly, and hilarity. If I survive academic year 2022-2023, I promise
to write all about it, and maybe I’ll even include some of my experiences as a
music teacher and substitute as well.
Perhaps I do have something of value left to say after all.
