Work Update

We are finally in our new building, hooray! It was well worth the wait and despite the excitement to be in a new location, I will still always hold a dear spot in my heart for the bowling alley. Not many people can say they taught high school in a bowling alley! The new building is beautiful though! I lucked out and got the BIGGEST room in the school AND the best view of Timp. Pretty much they like me the best so they treated me well. That's the reward for Teacher of the Year :)

No, probably the BEST part is having a gym, our very own gym! We had our first home games, boys and girls, this week and it was absolutely DIVINE. We actually had fans watching and cheering and no bus ride! After 6 hrs. to Parowan and back, this was heaven. No more crazy practices either. We can be much more effective and really grow as a team I think. I stepped down as head coach and just do JV now. That's also been the best decision - I'm highly involved and overcommitted so it's nice to take a step back.

Welcome to my World!!

Shockingly, I've already been back to school for a month now. Time flies when you're having fun! I've been outrageoulsy busy so far and I knew I would be, but I guess I didn't realize just how much. To give you a glimpse of my life for the school year, take a look at my responsibilities:

• Teaching High School (my curriculum). I teach 4 levels of Spanish. That should be considered illegal in and of itself by any state standard.
• Coaching Volleyball. I coach the Varsity team and the Freshmen team. I would be coaching the JV team as well, but we don't have one. Games start on Tuesday. Wish me luck!
• Coaching Basketball. The season will start as soon as volleyball ends. I'll also be coaching the Varsity and Freshmen teams.
• Master's Degree in Secondary Education through the Unversity of Phoenix. I started in April and will finish in August.
• Language Department Chair. As the head of the department I have to keep all curriculum in line with state standards as well as hold departments meetings twice a month.
• Accreditation Committee. As a member of this committee (only a handful) we have to work on getting our school accredited. We will have a visit this coming Spring so we have a LOT of work to do!
• NHS Board. As a member of this board (again only a handful) we are over NHS....accepting members, planning the induction ceremony (next Saturday) and organizing activities.
• Winterim. In January we do what's called Winterim where we suspend regular classes for 3 weeks and students study other completely different topics. So I want to do a Spanish Immersion and am trying to plan and get approved a trip to Puerto Rico. Sweet!
• Coach Certification. Because we are now part of the UHSAA (Utah High School Athletic Association) and are 2A, I have to get certified as a Coach. I went to a workshop yesterday and still have to do a few online classess as well as 5 tests. Ouch!
• Crisis Team Leader. I am responsible for several teachers and their students in times of crisis. We have already had a fire drill and lock down drill to practice.
• Mentor. As a Mentor I have been assigned a mentor group of Sophomores. We meet every Friday to discuss important topics or anything the students have questions about.
• Chaperone. As a teacher, I have to chaperone certain things like dances and what not.
• Capstone Project. Our school this year started the Capstone and so I will oversee several if they do any related to language.
• AP Spanish Course Audit. I have to get my AP class approved again this year through AP central and will have an audit coming right up. I better get organized!
• Costa Rica. Then I'm planning a 10 day trip to Costa Rica for July 2010. I think it would be great to give my students a chance to practice their Spanish and see another culture. Plus I get to go FREE!!

I know it's a lot, but it's only for 1 year while I'm working on my Masters. I just keep telling myself that.....one year. one year. one year. YOU CAN DO IT!!

Life on the Pharm

My part-time job this summer has been to work at Edgemont Pharmacy, one of the pharmacies I worked at to get me through BYU. I figure since I have the whole summer off, I should work a little to keep me on my toes and make some extra cash as well. I only work about 1 day a week so I still have time to enjoy the sumer as well.

It's been dull at times but then entertaining at times. Napoleon Dynamite's grandpa has come in as well as Lavell Edwards.....that's my claim to fame! So the other day this older guy comes in and tells the pharmacist, "un beso sin bigote es como sopa sin sal." A kiss without a mustache is like soup with salt. Hehe. You see, the pharmacist has a mustache so this older guy just couldn't resist telling him this.

Then the same day I answer the phone and this older guy is on the phone. Well, he asks if his friend, Bruce (the pharmacist), is working that day. I say yes and then he just comes out and says, "He's a DORK." I just had to let out a little chuckle! Then he asks if I knew that and I say no, but thanks for letting me know :) Then he says, "you just look into his eyes and you see D - O - R - K." Apparently he always called the pharmacist a dork and nerd or something like that. He's not off his rocker of anything, just a funny old guy.