...and then I heard that BB King died.

[jellowrestling]

On Thursday, the head of my department told me that she is retiring. I had told my wife that I wouldn't retire before she did (in two years). But, for a number of reasons, this year has been an extremely difficult one, and I don't see things getting better (especially with my most trusted and capable coworker leaving). My wife told me that I didn't have to wait for her, so I said, "OK, I'll retire next year." But I couldn't sleep that night, and by the time I walked into work on Friday morning, I had run through every possible scenario, so I called my wife at work and said, "I think I want to retire this year." She told me that would be great. So I gave my principal notice that I will retire at the end of August. This morning, another of my coworkers came to my house and said, "If you're not coming back, I'm retiring, too".

I suspect that the principal may be rethinking the wisdom of that departmental reorganization that four (out of five) of us begged him not to implement. Now three of us will be gone, taking the knowledge of how to run 90% of the programs with us. Fortunately, I convinced the administrators to create a flowchart of where to place students (English/Math/Science/Social Studies) when scheduling (and re-scheduling failures). Someone had brought up the issue of how it was that a student had been mis-scheduled. I said, "The question is not how we missed one; the question is how do we get so many of them in the right place; you all would be screwed if we left." So, the principal had the asst. principals, counselors and department chairs create flow charts. They were all between three and seven pages. I believe that it's a total of eighteen pages. And that's just for the core classes.

It really had kind of been my intention to teach others how to do what I do before I left. I had built the Dual Credit program from four sections to almost thirty. I had tripled the number of juniors taking the PSAT. I had overseen the calculation of the Top Ten without a hiccup for the past 16 years, and I had overhauled and expanded our NCAA Clearinghouse program (for prospective college athletes). Additionally, although I didn't set it up, I have been the main person identifying problems with the master schedule (and often, solutions) so that classes will balance properly.

But I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off of my shoulders. I will miss my colleagues, the great achievements and accolades our school has achieved, and mostly, I will miss the kids. I went to see a band play tonight, and they saw me and asked me to come sit in for the last half of the second set. As I was setting up, I mentioned to one of them that I was retiring from my job, and he asked me how I felt. I said, "I have mixed emotions, but the main one I feel is pure joy." I know that I will be replaced and the school will go on as if I had never been there, but I like to think that it has been just a little bit better because I was there. Just before I left the stage tonight, they asked me to sing a song. So I did a BB King number.

[grouchy]

Hello, I have always respected you and your work. They will
really miss you. Salud sir.

[millergrovesue]

Congrats on your retirement and the load lifting feeling. I certainly can understand the mixed feelings but it sounds like you are leaving the place in better shape than when you came. Politics mostly stinks and is unfair............but then you certainly know that. Yes, we can all be replaced. But many times the replacement lacks our passion and experience so is a major step down even if those in control won't admit it.

Blessings.

[rgb7]

Congrats! You will not regret it, and they will indeed miss you.

[GFB]

"Retirement"..nice work if you can get it!

[Red Oak]

I hope it is a long and rewarding retirement.

[jellowrestling]

Thanks, everybody. I have a lot of work still to do before the end of August, but I have a lot of plans for things I want to do. I will still be working part time at the local junior college, but I also want to do a few home-improvement projects I have never had time for. And then I would also like to start again with a regular music practice regimen. I started to learn to play the guitar a few years ago; I may pick that up again. I might even start learning to play the piano a bit.