In Dedication

As we come upon the last couple days of the 2019-20 school year, I felt the need to do some personal reflection. During the last few months of writing blogs, I have touched a bit into my life yet you don't necessarily know much about who I am connected with at home.

Please allow me to introduce you to my wife Marcy. We met in the earlier 2000s through the introduction of a mutual friend. As we maneuvered through dating life, each with kids of our own, we realized we both had a deep connection. We have had hiccups along the way in the realm of a couple of cancers, as well as the continual wading through blended family ins and outs (which is a blog site in and of itself).

As I was building steam up on my own introduction to being a Special Education Director, we had a resignation in our Developmental Preschool program. Marcy was in need of a teaching change so I convinced (and recruited) her to come join the ranks in a new district. There was some trepidation on her part. The district was 45 minutes from our home. We convinced each other however that we would commute together and make it all work. She said yes and moved onto a new chapter of her career. I was pleased we would be doing some teaming together and also happy to bring a Nationally Board Certified Teacher into the ranks.

Within a 3 year period of time, Marcy had built a very solid preschool program and also received her Masters Degree in Special Education. During the times I found ways to help support her and grow the program, I had the privilege of watching her teach. I had always considered myself to be a very good teacher. Marcy however is a great teacher. I watched her plan and teach with massive amounts of intentionality. She was able to deviate from a plan when teachable moments came up on the fly and made it all look so easy. I knew it was not easy in the least.

She began to need more in the way of teaching higher order academics to primary students and was able to transfer into a first grade classroom. Again, I was fortunate on occasion to witness the unconditional level of energy and commitment she put forth in her classroom. The students were growing and most seemed to love her classroom and how school was working for them. Even during the COVID-19 times of distant learning, she somehow through Zoom technology, was able to engage the students to a degree that was exciting and thoughtful. Again, she looked for teachable moments and moved with them while seamlessly heading back to her lesson when appropriate.

Alas, we are in another season in our world. As a family, we felt it best if at least one of us was closer to home. We felt the need to be more readily available to the teenagers in our house so Marcy interviewed for and took a job in our home town to teach a new Transitional Kindergarten class for the 2020-21 school year. For me, this moment is bittersweet. I am happy the puzzle pieces for this new journey have come together. In the long run, it will be best for our family but I will also miss the commuting connections we both had these last 5 years. Needless to say, the future students in this new classroom will be fortunate to have Mrs. Wright as their teacher next year. I have no doubt in my mind, she will get them ready for being true and ready Kinder students when they turn 5 years old.

Thank you for your time with us and best wishes on your new assignment Mrs. Wright