Series Finale

It's always sad to see a chapter of your life close. When I started working at Clear Creek ISD I had just turned 27 and was excited about the new position in which I found myself. I got to work with technology, which had always been a talent of mine. Above that, I got to work with teachers, training them on using and integrating that technology. Best of all, I still got to work with the students, helping them with issues and teaching when the opportunity arose. This made the transition from classroom to technology-specific employee a much easier process. I wasn't losing one part of the job I love, I was gaining an additional part to make it even more interesting and enjoyable. Not only was I well-suited for the job, but the job was well-suited for me, and I loved every minute of it.

It's amazing how much can happen in just over 5 years. For one thing, you find yourself just over 5 years older. I'm told that's how math works. Aside from that, I grew to know and love the people with whom I've worked since March of 2006, gaining friends and colleagues more numerous than I could have imagined. I said goodbye to one set of friends at Weber Elementary for the opportunity to help build a new campus from the ground up at Parr Elementary. The chance to design the "perfect" campus for the integration of technology in our students' daily lives is an opportunity that would probably not again come my way for a very long time, if ever. So when one of my current principals asked me to come with her to the new school, it was a chance I had no intention of passing up. It was a time-consuming and stressful task at times, but in the long run it was also more richly-rewarding than I could possibly describe.

So, in my short time with CCISD, I've gotten to know not one campus, but three. As economic strains come down the pipe, changes are inevitable, and the thinning out of my current position was inevitable (and predictable.) I am blessed to be able to take a 2nd grade position and stay with the campus that I helped open. The change is bittersweet, though, because I am leaving behind another campus, Armand Bayou, to which I've grown quite attached.

As I stood watching our 5th graders graduate today, I was struck with the realization that we started at the same time. When I started with Armand, these now 5th grade students were just Kindergarteners. It's fitting that, just as I've watched them grow up these nearly 6 years, I've grown up a lot myself (don't worry, I haven't grown up TOO much.) And, just as they're leaving Armand, it's a fitting time that I'm entering a new phase in my life as well.

Everyone has had the experience of watching one of their favorite television shows coming to a close. It's always sad saying goodbye to the characters you've personally come to know. But it's always just a bit comforting to know that, as the doors close behind you, life goes on tomorrow, and next year. Just as many television shows may end, but the storyline lets you know that in the fictional universe created for that TV show, life goes on even though we won't be voyeuristically peeking through the window of a TV screen to see those lives play out.

So, having said that, my final season with Armand comes to a close today. Just like an ending TV program, the last "season" may not be the "best," but it can't overshadow the great experience of the past 5+ years as a whole. And just as the IDEA of our favorite TV characters continue on past the final episode, I know life goes on as the doors of ABE close behind me. 'Til we meet again, ABE. It's been great knowing you.