Okay….GOOD question and a frequent one…so here goes….

No names will be mentioned and a general explanation will be provided, how is that?

As many might now or might now know, I invested a TON of time into my home school in Delaware, because I wanted to. Not because I was forced to, etc, it was because I wanted to show students from Delaware have more guts and energy than anywhere in the world. After 6 years, I can stand back and am extremely proud of the accomplishments the students made, accomplishments many schools do not even achieve in a lifetime, what the students did was amazing, want a preview? okay here goes…

Five Award winners of the Delaware Governor’s Volunteer Awards

Creation of PAVE – a non-profit group that gives back to the community in so many ways and participates in community events

Unique family style approaches to running and competing in XC

Creation of a 5k series in and around Seaford, DE

A Key Club that showed it could go and be involved in all areas of the community and come back winners

An online newspaper and magazine in 2011 as well as features of what students do for and with the community with exchange students

A Battle of the Bands that brought in so many new faces to music, it was known in the tri state area…

okay, that is ony touching the tip but anyways, you know that I was committed to DE and the students showed they have the mettle if they decide they wanted it.

After 6 years of teaching in DE, and 6 in PA, I was used to seeing the rules and regs set by the public education system, more time at paperwork and admin requirements than reaching my students, this did not sit well with me.

Finally, the straw that broke the camel’s back (love this phrase) was one behavior of students overran the decisions of myself as a teacher. When student’s behavior began to rule supreme and my decisions as far as discipline were overruled, I knew there had to be a change.

This is what way I see it, I am in front of 100+ students a day, and when I decide that someone has crossed the line, I react to it and enforce it that is my duty as a teacher. I rarely write referrals at all, and put up with alot of behavior to show that hey, I am willing to bend a bit BUT, I expect certain things from you.

I expect respect but that also coms in the form of admin backing me when a crucial behavior issue needs attention. In one last example, a blatant issue in the class was broken, I stepped in and needed to see a remedy to a student that did not act appropriately, and my decision was not even considered, overruled really. I am not blaming this on any one person, no way, I am really pointing at the system and saying, if you expect me to put in the hours, dedication, listening time, counseling time, and planning time to be a quality teacher, then you better have my back. If you do not have my back, then you will see my back because I need to do what is good for me for once.

And then the things I had done began to feel like I had to do them, and not that I wanted to do them. Lesson, without the proper encouragement and support, the house falls on itself.

I saw my students seeing my stand and being overruled when may of the students couldn’t believe an infraction was being ignored. I do serve as a role model to my students, and part of that is standing my ground in what I believe in, this is an important life lesson too. I felt it was time to show them, you need to do the right thing. I decided to resign because of a lack of support and in return found an opportunity in Mexico. Now to be honest, it could have been Iceland, Vietnam, Africa, India, Puerto Rico (I did get an offer there after Mexico!) anywhere, the point I wanted to make to my students was two-fold :

1) You can do ANYTHING you want and go anywhere you want if you want to, you just need to look ahead ….and

2) Stand your ground and do the right thing for the right reasons. It might not be the most popular decision or the easiest, but no one said doing the right thing was going to be what you had planned! Like the song you have to stand for something, or you will will fall for anything…Try the Aaron Tippin song!

I want to do proud by the hard work my students have done for me, and I hope they realize that they have so much power and energy, all they have to do is use 1/5 of it and they can do so much! 🙂 I am so proud of them and that is the ONy reason I chose Mexico and can do good anywhere I go, because the memories and the energy that was given to me from those students!

So Why Mexico? It was not the first offer but the best offer, and I am convinced this is why I love it so much! Luckily, I had two great parents that raised me with respect and one heck of a work ethic, and the rest was applied by some great students along the way! 🙂

So now that that is all out, lol, when are you coming to visit me in Mexico?!