My time in KY in one quick post

I figure I should explain how my time in Kentucky was for those who don't know and so that all readers have something with which to compare my anticipated time in New Mexico at the United World College. If you know how my time was, skip this post. This is where I'm going to detail my time for my own memory's sake.

I arrived in KY a week after graduating from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Molecular Biology and Biochemisty. Apparently, KY needs teachers so bad they're willing to give me full time employment and a master's degree at reduced cost if I teach there. Sounds like a good interlude before med school for me, so I decide to "just try out teaching for a couple of years".

I picked Kentucky because of a program there called Teach Kentucky which is based in Louisville and sends most of its teachers to Louisville's public school system (JCPS). TKY is similar to Teach For America (TFA) except that it is much smaller, personalized, and supportive, while getting you that master's degree at the same time which seems to be more of minority option in TFA than the standard. There's also this incredible salesman named Rowan Claypool, who could sell milk to a dairy farmer, who decided that selling real estate was not as fulfilling of a life endeavor as filling KY's public schools with young strapping recent graduates from the U.S.'s top colleges. Rowan's enthusiasm, anecdotes, and personality enticed me and other teachers to move to... KY, and his attributes also recruit enough money to fund his program. His energies and those of his more experienced recruits now put TKY at the forefront of change for the betterment in KY's education system and more broadly as well.

So, first summer before teaching is filled with survival classes taught by a very entertaining, scary, brash, and exactly-what-we-needed middle school teacher who decided to pick up some extra cash by teaching at U of L. I remember standing in my single dorm room after a class about defeated teachers and literally shaking and wondering just what exactly I had gotten myself in to. I finally got an apartment with two other TKY teachers, got a job, got a car, started to feel comfortable in Louisville. I got geared up for the year. Met my fellow Conway Middle School teachers who I thought were a bit redneck and rowdy (later I learned that this is simply their way of surviving the trials and tribulations of the job + a little bit of their own character + the local culture). I set up my classroom, and then before I knew it there were kids in my room wondering where to sit, what my name was, and running back out to their lockers to talk with their friends...

The noise, energy, questions, yelling, and disrespect that followed that year still bring my blood up as if I were about to enter a no holds barred death match. Conway Middle School is not one of those hood urban school where nothing at all works right. It is a school that has many issues and many dedicated individuals working to correct or deal with those issues who I think will eventually succeed in bringing Conway to a place of prominence and excellence. My year was incredibly difficult because of how my micro-climate within the school had been constructed by poor previous administration. I had a totally inept and incapable Team Leader (handles discipline and team structure on a small scale before the administration needs to get involved). His presence was toxic because his classroom fostered a lack of caring about learning (he did not grade work and gave all students A's and B's or D's if they couldn't read), a lack of respect for teachers including himself (he had no classroom management and let the kids play him like a fiddle), a sense of inequality (he blamed the reactions of other teachers to his ineptitude on his race instead of himself); couple this with his inability to plan or see ahead and everything surprised him and the rest of the teachers who unfortunately had to rely on him... plus, he is tenured, got CPS called up him for beating kids, but was in with the union and bribed the kids so he still is gainfully employed in JCPS... ok, enough about him. I was also inexperienced and handled issues as well as I could (which was with a lack of total effectiveness or understanding). I remember, with a bit of bitter callous humor, the looks I got from observers. I got looks of someone who had been fed to the wolves and they could only watch because of the powers that be. I remember my body starting to get an adrenaline rush at 4:55 before my alarm went off at 5:00, my nights were sometimes so tormented by the events of the day that I would hear student yells far into the night, and I dreamt about med school. Now, when people ask me about teaching, I say it was like boot camp. A great learning experience where I grew a lot, but I would NEVER want to repeat it. That first year ended and I slept for the whole weekend. Then grad school classes for the summer started up on Monday ;)

The second year was black and white different from my first year. I knew the game the students would try to play, I was prepared, and it was my classroom no matter what happened outside, AND I was blessed with the most amazing teacher/team leader I have ever met. Sheilah Trowell was in the house and it was her house. Nothing ruffled this lady's feathers and she ruled with a firm, but laid back hand that taught students respect and to think before they acted; something that is probably the most important thing students in our demographic need. We also had fun messing with those kids and each other. Team Honor was a good team that year. Plus, I was able to actually teach! I know this is what teachers are supposed to do, but... well, just try it first. In my second year I had students reprimanding other students for silly questions because they had already been taught that, or students saying, "Shut up! I want to hear this!". I built a rapport with students and actually feel like I made a positive impact on most of the students. It was amazing and made me want to stay in the profession. By the end of the two years I had my master's degree in teaching, I was certified to teach wherever I want in KY, I had savings built up, I had a social group, and I felt capable and that I was well qualified to do my job...

That's the big part about teaching in KY. There was plenty else, but I'm writing a blog, not a novel. Ask me about Derby, girls, med school, Mammoth, etc. if you care.

Take care Y'all.