Another turning point

I just got home after spending three days in Palm Bay, Florida--a town just east and south of Orlando and on the west coast--working as part of an accreditation site-visit team. Some of you may be wondering whatintheheck that is, and I'll try to succinctly explain. Many Christian schools try to be accredited by some sort of accrediting agency. My school is accredited by Christian Schools of Florida, which is a relative of CSI, for those who know. CSF accredits and re-accredits schools every five years, and if you've been reading my posts, you'll remember that we just went through an accreditation visit about three weeks ago. A team came to our school and evaluated us based on a set of standards established by CSF--evaluating things like instruction materials, facilities, health and safety, advertising, structure and government, and each branch of the school. Well, this Christian school in Palm Bay, part of the CSF family, also went through accreditation this year, and I was able to be part of the team that visited and evaluated them.

As a first-year teacher, this is a rare and valuable opportunity. I'm still sifting through all the things I've learned, both from critically observing in classrooms to personal conversations with teachers to evaluation of how the school met standards that I had no personal experience with. I can say that my big-picture understanding of how schools work is greatly expanded. I've also gotten a taste of administration that has been very pleasant and encouraging. In other words, I'm leaning more towards focusing my future in that general direction. I've also been challenged to look with a new perspective at my own school, especially after seeing a new way of doing things at this other school. I came away very much valuing some elements of my school and eager to change others.

This was also a good opportunity to network with other teachers around the state. I met people from all over--from north of Tampa, from Ft. Lauderdale, from just across the river in Ft. Myers, and from places I'd never heard of, like Orangewood. I also got to know some of the teachers in Palm Bay, and hopefully I can continue developing these relationships over the next few years into valuable connections that can help me develop professionally.

In addition to all of that, I just had a plain ol' good time. The members of the team were so much fun and very encouraging to me. Initially, I was extremely intimidated to be working with these people as a peer in such an important arena as accreditation, but I got over that quickly. Several of the team members were from my own school, and we got to compare, contrast, and dream together about the future of our own program. It was a great bonding time. I encourage all teachers out there to take any opportunities you get to participate in something like this--it's an amazing learning experience.

Was It a Morning Like This?

I was a little disappointed with Easter this year. Recently, I have been singing at a local Catholic church as a cantor for a little extra cash (the Catholics pay pretty well), and I did a lot of Easter services this last week: Maundy Thursday, two on Good Friday, an Easter Vigil, and an extremely early sunrise service (it was at 10:15 on Saturday night). Now, although I'm in no way a Catholic, I have to admit that I enjoyed all the pomp and ceremony surrounding this holiday--all the litanies, the symbolic Easter candle, the pointed meditation, all the kneeling and standing. By participating in all of the special services, I really felt a sense of expectation and hope as I looked forward to Sunday. I was especially eager to participate with my church family. And then it was Sunday. I woke up excited. The sun was bright, I reread the Easter story to myself, my roommate and I had a great conversation over breakfast, we enjoyed not having to rush to Sunday School and choir practice, and we strolled into church expecting celebration.

Now I should pause here and say that my church is a great church, and the service really was encouraging, and I really shouldn't complain.

However, I was hoping for something a little louder, something that was almost overeager. I wanted loud amens. When the deacon said, "Alleluia, He is risen!" I wanted the whole church to resound with "He is risen indeed!" But the choir songs were normal, there wasn't any abberration from the typical Sunday service. We found out that there had been choir practice and Sunday school, and it seemed to me that there were too many people pointedly inquiring about where I was and why I skipped out. The rest of my Easter was enjoyable--good food, good company, swimming in our pool and feeling luxurious. But it's Monday now, and I feel a little deflated in my Easter hopes. Although even as I say that, I know it's a lie. Because even though church wasn't as rousing as I hoped it would be, my Easter hope is fulfilled in the knowledge that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.