Faithful Nest

Lori saw me. She set down the boxes she was carrying to her classroom and pushed the door open. “Here, let me take a couple of those.” I offered up a couple of bags and unlocked the computer lab door. “Gee, thanks! I really appreciate your help!” I called out. “No problem,” she waved the appreciation aside as she returned for her own items. I really need to stop acting like a pack horse and make more trips when I have a lot to carry.
Entering the teacher’s lounge, “Hi, Christy” drifts from whatever seat Lori is at. Reaching into my home mailbox reveals a congratulations card she has sent after I’ve achieved a goal set for fundraising. Other times students bring up a thank you (obviously heavily encouraged) for helping them with a project she has sent with them to the lab. While all of these things make me feel special, they begin to reveal just one layer of what makes her special.
Our relationship goes back to my first (very first!) day of substitute teaching. Rookie that I was, her lesson plans were all laid out, complete with a note at the bottom thanking ME for taking HER class. I wonder if she was still so grateful after seeing my notes and/or hearing from the students how the day went! We had everything from a pen blowing up in a girls mouth (don’t suck on them) to toilets overflowing in the boys’ bathroom.
After teaching both of my children, I felt comfortable enough to ask her to allow me to student teach with her. She did not even hesitate, though I think there were times she wished she hadn’t been so ready to receive me. As an older ‘non-traditional’ student teacher, I had a few preconceived notions to get drilled out of my head.
One day the students were exceptionally chatty as they entered the room. She looked up with dismay in her eyes, and marched them right back out in the hallway. She then lined them up and advised they would be allowed in when she felt ‘they were ready for the classroom.’ Another time, after becoming noisy in the classroom, she declared that lunch would wait until they could show that they were ready to be fourth grade students.
‘Prep’ times (which teacher’s use to prepare lesson plans for the future and set up the lessons for the day) she would only step in to view what was offered. Her trust helped me to set a higher standard in an effort to continue to maintain the trust. I think she came by that thinking naturally.
During one of those ‘prep’ times, I heard a bit about Lori’s high school years. Another layer was revealed. Her parents enjoyed traveling. One day during her senior year, they announced they were leaving. They were leaving for a six month tour. Lori and her brother were on their own. They had to manage the household and make college plans on their own!
Our friendship has blossomed. Perhaps part of that is built on a foundation of common interest in science. Just last week we headed up to an odd little store in Milwaukee called American Science and Surplus. If you haven’t been there, it is a combination of Salvation Army meets Discovery Museum! As teachers, we love the odd little pieces and parts (l.e.d. switch anyone? Yellow caution tape, Fresnel lens, or watch tools?) alongside more traditional paper tablets and microscopes.
With a half an hour of driving ahead of us, we caught up on family events occurring over the past month. “When we were first married, Stan (her husband) had some health problems. They (doctors) were not figuring it out very well. He wasn’t able to work at all, so I was holding down two jobs, raising our daughter, and trying to do schoolwork. I came home one night to see an ambulance in the driveway. I waited on the street, figuring I would be out of the way as they brought Stan out. And I waited. And I waited. I almost went to my brother’s after a bit. Since they weren’t leaving, I though Stan was dead! I did go in, to find that the paramedics were having trouble getting an IV started. They wanted to stabilize him before moving him.”
Lori’s favorite story is about the time she was hired at her current school. The union had a grip on the hiring and firing on employees. One way this manifested itself was the requirement that a new employee be brought on in the correct ‘step and line’. These coincide with the years of service on one side and education credits on the other. As you gain credits you move over in lines and/or as you gain years you move down in steps.
“My first interview at this school went very well. However, the principal advised me he would be hiring someone fresh out of college because of this rule. I was broken hearted. After I finished crying, I called the principal and asked a question. If I had mentioned I would accept less than the required salary for my years of service, would it have changed the outcome? Well, he thought it might have, but the union would have to waive it. Later the person they hired backed out just the week before school started. He called me back and asked if I would still accept the job at a lower wage? I said of course, I would still be making more than I was at the private school. To my relief, he called the next day with the union waiver.”
Who has that kind of luck? No, it’s not luck, but integrity. People will go out of their way for you if you will go out of your way for them. Time after time, I have seen this lady go out of her way to help whoever is right in front of her. And who knows, but somewhere in all those layers perhaps she has had another experience that brought her to that understanding.