Oh June!

June is here, and I am still wrapping my heart around it. I made it through one year of teaching middle school. What a blessing it was to be able to teach a classroom full of eighth graders, and seventh graders. We walked through US History, World History, Worldview and English Language Arts, among other subjects. We enjoyed immersive field trips to the Hui No’eau Arts Center, ‘Iao Valley and the Wailuku Hei’au, a beach day on the North Shore, and a three-night trip to the neighbor island of Oahu where we saw ‘Iolani Palace, took in the sights at Bishop Museum, swam along Waikiki Beach, and visited the Pacific Aviation Museum and Pearl Harbor.

On the last day of school, I surprised my graduating middle schoolers with a giant shark piñata filled with Subway gift cards, candies, squishy toys, popcorn and chip bags. It was a riot in a good way. Then I said goodbye to the students at Graduation, gave my speech, and spent the following week cleaning out my classroom and preparing it for the next teacher.

One year. I truly believe that God gave Ken and me vision to pursue this unique ministry of teaching in the school system for one year. It stretched us and challenged us as a family, and was likely the single most exhausting thing we’ve experienced (outside of having children and homebuilding, of course) in these nearly 14 years of marriage.

I never knew prior to this teaching job how much teachers pour into their classroom. How much is expected: the time I gave, the money I gave, the nights and weekends of grading papers, lesson planning, and working with parents through challenges they were facing. It was brutal. My day started at 5 a.m. (sometimes 4:30 a.m.) and looked like back-to-back classes right after 7:15 a.m. daily staff meetings. I would often pickup my kids from aftercare program and head home by 4 p.m./4:30 p.m. and then work more at home. When I was too tired to work on my lesson preps (I had five each day), I would stare at the wall to recover from being completely “on” all the time. Ken was an all-star husband and dad to our kids. He took care of packing lunches for all five of us every single day. He did homework with our kids, made dinner, and read to them for 30-45 minutes each night, before putting them to bed. I was often too tired to eat dinner and would spend some nights crying in my room.

I never knew how much parents ask of teachers, until I took this post.

Looking back, I’m so grateful for these middle schoolers that I got to spend time with this past year. I love them all so much. We had an adventurous and wild and fun and challenging and growing year together. I will miss them dearly, and treasure this chapter I got to be their teacher. I cannot wait to see who they each become. They are full of talent, drive, compassion, and character.

In teaching, I realized how much I truly love teaching. I love it to my core. That being said, I cannot wait for this next chapter for our family where I will get to homeschool my own three children full-time. What a gift. I believe that teaching begins at home, and I’m honored that I can be that person to my babies. Each year is unique and I’m continuing to pray for God to give wisdom and grace for each season of teaching and schooling. Whether I will go back to teaching full-time at a school is currently TBD. And I have faith that God will make a way if I’m meant to continue with homeschooling or try a different route in the next season.

Ken took me out to celebrate this huge milestone for us. Breakfast and lots of laughing, and a long walk at the park finished off with flowers. My favorite person, doing life together.

Thank you for praying for me/us this school year. xx