Boomerang

 For the past month or so when I think about where I am in my career, one word flashes through my mind: Boomerang.

I left my current school at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year, pursuing my life long dream of becoming a foster parent. We had been fostering a brother and sister sibling set for over half a year by then and were taking steps toward finalizing their adoption to make them permanent members of our family. The commute (10 freeway miles in the heavy traffic during rush hour direction) combined with all the appointments and activities that came with parenting an additional two children who came from a trauma filled background, meant something had to give. 

When I left four years ago, I was sad that I was leaving the school where I had experienced the most professional growth of my entire career, even though I was over a decade in before I even started working there. I knew I had grown so much as an educator working for the principal and that I would be hard pressed to find another boss who would work so hard to push me to keep achieving more. But I was excited about my personal endeavors and ready to work toward ensuring a successful transition for my new children. Little did I know that my foster children had only shown the tip of the iceberg of their trauma to that point, and the placement would fall apart as we got closer to making them legally a part of our family.

The teacher hired to replace me ended up leaving at the Christmas break. My principal called me and practically begged me to take back my old job. But all the reasons I left were still in play. We talked back and forth and he convinced me to sub in what had very recently been my classroom for the month of January, 2018. Just as he hired a replacement for the second half of the school year, my foster son was being permanently removed from my home after several behavioral escalations resulted in several 911 calls, a medical evaluation for me, and an in-patient stay at the behavioral health ward at Seattle Children's Hospital for him. His sister was still in my care, but her behavior at that time was infinitely more stable.

Since my old job was once again taken, and my house was no longer in crisis on a daily basis, when I heard a different previous school was looking for a long term sub to finish out the school year for the 6-8 grade language arts teacher who had been severely injured in a car crash, I interviewed for it. I finished out the school year in someone else's classroom, doing a job I had long thought would overwhelm me. It was *so* much fun connecting with those middle schoolers and teaching them to become better writers.

That spring my foster daughter was also permanently removed from my home. After her brother had moved out, her behavior had deteriorated to the point that we were filing "serious Incident reports" with her social worker and our adoption agency daily. Her behavior escalations were happening at home and at school. We didn't ask for either of the kids to be removed, but life became infinitely more calm after they were gone. I found myself looking for my own classroom again.

I could have stayed on for one more year, working in the classroom belonging to the teacher who had been in a car wreck. But I wanted my own classroom. There were two openings at a school close to my home: fourth grade and middle school ELA. The principal there was moving across the state, but the search for his replacement was still underway. He spoke to my former (and current boss), and told me he had never heard such a glowing recommendation for a person he was considering hiring and offered me my choice of the open positions. Coming off of the middle school language arts position, I jumped at the opportunity to take on a middle school homeroom position of my own.

Although I had a difficult time connecting with my homeroom sixth graders, who I only taught for one class each day, the eighth graders made me excited and joyful to go to work every day. My second year there the schedule shifted and I taught eighth graders exclusively, removing the sixth grade homeroom and one class period per day from my schedule. The middle school team was a welcoming and joyful group. We sought each other out for professional and personal support and celebration. I remember very clearly thinking I had found my forever school, and was surprised to discover I could easily picture myself finishing my career teaching 8th grade history and language. There's a mountain of grading and feedback required to push middle schoolers to become better writers, and that part of the job was incredibly time consuming, but I found joy in working with the kids. I knew I was making a positive difference in their lives and they were returning the favor. Twenty years into my career I felt I had finally landed at my "forever school."

Then, as the pandemic was beginning to shut everything down in my area, my principal delivered devastating news. My contract was not going to be renewed. The school was facing a massive budget shortfall, and staff was being cut by 20%. I knew about the budget crisis, and that staff was going to be reduced. But, like many of my co-workers, I assumed those would be aides, front office staff, and possibly custodial staff. Very few of us thought homeroom teachers were going to be cut. However, both fourth grade teachers, both middle school ELA teachers, and the academic support specialist were all let go.

We were told our contracts were nonrenewed literally as students were coming into the building for the final time of the 2019-2020 school year to collect belongings and supplies for the start of remote learning. As shattered as I felt, I had to finish out the school year teaching remotely. Under the circumstances, I was relieved that many of the 8th grade end of the year activities were cancelled, and those that were held were physically distanced. I didn't want the kids to see how upset I was.

Searching for a job in the spring of 2020 was difficult. Schools were not sure what kind of learning model they were preparing for in the fall and there were threats from the federal government about cutting funds even as facilities upgrades and additional barriers and sanitizing supplies were needed. I was in regular contact with my former principal, asking him to fill out reference forms and write letters of recommendation. One of my requests was met with the response, "I'd be happy to. But why don't you stop applying at districts all over the state and come teach fourth grade for me?"

So here I am, closing out my first year as a fourth grade teacher at the same school I had left in June of 2017. I have boomeranged back, even after considering another school my "forever school." I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching fourth grade, and can now say I have taught every grade 3-8. The connections are very different than those I had with eighth graders., but the relationships are still quite strong. We have fun together, and I am planting the seeds of life lessons that will serve these kids well as they mature and come into their middle school years. I also love that I will get to see some of that growth as they move down the hallway, away from me and toward their eighth grade graduation.