I Got a Job!

So I kind of lied to you.  If you look back to some of my first announcements of our move to Texas, I told you that both Reid and I are going back the classroom - Reid to the U of H classroom and me to the public school.  From the beginning something told me I wasn't going to be in the classroom in the way that I had first imagined, but I dutifully filled out the forms (and paid the big bucks!) to get my teaching license transferred to TX.  After all we were moving across the country for Reid's school, and I needed to have all my options open.

Over the past two years working at a great ministry in Wake Forest, I learned a lot about my work style and the type of work that excites me. I love the organization part of it all, creating efficiency structures, and managing time to increase effectiveness.  Always an avid to-do list maker, I've finally discovered what I should have realized all along: I love to plan (and the feeling of checking things off that list!)! When I think back to teaching, I remember how much fun I would have lesson planning for the week (strange, I know) and thinking through all my plans for the first day of school.  So I think it makes sense that my next career move would push me further into this area of strength. I decided to pursue jobs that would allow me to use and improve on these qualities.

As I engaged in the job search process, I got some genius advice from my dad who helped me to use my network of friends and acquaintances from my past work experiences and Teach for America to connect with potential opportunities here in Texas.  Within a week of reaching out to some folks, I had filled out four applications for four jobs in which I had personally connected with the key decision makers.  None of these jobs were directly in the classroom.  All of them were office support/project management positions within the world of education and education reform.

So the process has finally come to an end, and I'm happy to announce I have a job! Yours truly is the new Teaching Excellence Alternative Certification Program Coordinator at YES Prep Public Schools! In the end, I had a total of four interviews and two job offers.  I took the job at YES, and I start on Monday! Reid and I are so thankful for how the Lord provided this great opportunity in such a short time after we've arrived here!

Just so you know what I'm getting into, YES Prep is a charter school network that exists to increase the number of low-income Houstonians who graduate from a four-year college prepared to compete in the global marketplace and committed to improving disadvantaged communities. YES Prep was the first public school system in the country to make college acceptance a graduation requirement, and what they require, they work really hard to help their students achieve! Currently 80% of Yes Prep graduates are  enrolled or have already graduated from college, compared to 25% of low-income students nationwide who enroll as freshman.

YES Prep seeks out highly qualified individuals to teach in their schools including many Teach for America teachers.  They support their teachers with the Teaching Excellence program which provides initial and on-going training. My role in the organization will be to help coordinate the Alternative Certification Program within Teaching Excellence to help first year teachers who majored in subjects other than education to  complete the necessary coursework and tests to obtain a Texas teaching license by the end of that first year.  The Teaching Excellence program is top rated in the state, and we will be working to make it top in the nation! I'm excited!

So in the end, I do get to be a part of the classroom.  I'll be supporting new teachers and helping them serve their students! I'm looking forward to this, and am so thankful that God has allowed me to do something that I enjoy and believe in!

Thanks to all our friends and family who have been praying! We realize that moving to Texas with no job seemed a little crazy! But our God is faithful, and He has provided!