Return of the Carpet Wetter

This was a long week at work. I'm organizing a three day retreat to DC for 40 women from my boss' District which involves a variety of irritating arrangements including but not limited to: a luncheon, a dinner, a reception, tourist materials, a "goody bag," hearing/press information, bus transportation, a planned shopping trip, a hotel, and 75 Member letter invites to some of the aforementioned events. I do not know how this became my responsibility, but it has, and I am begrudgingly taking care of it. I need a raise.

In the midst of preparing the lengthy list of Member letters for the luncheon, I notice on my boss' schedule that a group of 40 seventh graders from the District are visiting and that I am staffing the visit, which entails a lunch and a photo opp and maybe a small tour of the office. Normally I revel in the opportunity to work with kids but I was not in the mood.

I wait outside the hearing room where the kids are supposed to eat, knowing full-well that my boss may only be able to stop by for 5 minutes so he can go vote and go to a mark-up, and that I will be the sole entertainer of the kiddies. I can hear them from around the corner. Lots of "shushing." They are all tucked in to their sweater vests and pleated skirt polyester uniforms and I introduce myself and create some guidelines for them to arrange the chairs in the hearing room into cafeteria-style-dining and get their boxed lunches from the table.

And I'm looking at the kids thinking "I could swear I recognize some of you..." and then laughing at myself because of COURSE I don't recognize them. But then wait, they are in seventh grade from my old town, and how many years ago was it that I taught the third grade...?

I ask one of the boys who is helping move the chairs: "Is your name... Rashan?"

He stops dead in his tracks. "MISS _______?"

I start laughing."How many of your kids are from P.S.___?" I ask the principal. Four of them raise their hands.

Turns out 2 of them are my old students from my first year of teaching and two of them had my best-teacher-friend in the fourth grade! They were utterly fascinated as to how I ended up going from teaching to working on the Hill. I emailed my friend from my work-Blackberry to let her know that sitting next to me eating a boxed turkey sandwich lunch in the Hearing room in my office building was Juan, the boy who stood up and peed on her reading rug in protest when she wouldn't let him use the bathroom one day for the fourth time. Fortunately Juan is potty-trained now and rather mature compared to his former days. He must have been held over once since he was now in the same grade as some of my old kiddies. It made my day.

The boss came in and did a little intro and Q&A with the kids. Slightly more sophisticated questions than the kindergarten kids. They talked about violence in the community, how to talk to your leaders about improving safety, and when they could vote for him in an election. Then he left to go vote.

I took the students in groups of 10 to the boss' office to look at his photos and awards and trophies and sit in his chair, etc. They asked about my job and the difference between the House and Senate and if they could see my boss on-screen since they have a TV of the House floor in his office and were voting at that time. I showed them how they record the votes on-screen and explained how they were voting to pass an education bill on improving access to student loans. We talked about the tunnels that connect the buildings and how there is a special subway that connects the House and Senate buildings to the Capitol.

By the time I had helped them clean up and escorted them to the exit so they could head over to the Air & Space Museum I had completely moved on from my grumpy-work-mood and was feeling like I have the most fantastic job. I guess I didn't have to wait a whole year to have something to post about after all.

When Do I Get to See the Ninjas?

It's been almost exactly a year since I've last written, and a couple of really random people have asked me why I never write anymore so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm in a totally different universe from the last time I posted... I've been living in D.C. since January after finishing up my Education Policy MA and now I'm a Legislative Aide working on Education, Labor, Housing and Environmental issues (Lord knows how they decided I was qualified for the latter end of that portfolio, but I'm learning fast).

This could not possibly be more different than teaching (duh) -- and it definitely is not as rewarding -- but it is possible that I might actually "like my job." You know, in an everyday kind of way where you wake up in the morning and don't have that pit-of-your-stomach dread. It is bizarre. This is not to say that I didn't like teaching, or that my new job doesn't come with its own set of crap (still working far too many hours for far too little pay), but there is something to be said for not getting spit on, cursed at, or having a chair thrown at you during a typical work day.

While I don't spend my days in schools anymore, but I did however have the opportunity to visit a seriously impressive charter school with my boss in his District last week. The facilities were damn near sparkly, the teachers (2 per classroom) were seriously on-point, and during Community Circle, a class of third graders put on a poetry performance and a short play that were excellent. My boss spoke to a kindergarten class on what it's like to be an elected official and the kids asked precious things like:

"What kind of clothes do you wear to work?"
and
"Have you ever met Martin Luther King?"
and
"Who is your favorite wrestler?"

That last one cracked him up and then some kids started calling out their favorite wrestlers and the other kids would go "Ohhhhhhhhh!" when they heard one of their favorites. All very cute and I really forgot how tiny 5-year-olds are. This group was particularly impressive, sitting still on the carpet for almost 45 minutes -- I don't know how they did it.

One of the things that sort of lingers in the back of my head at my new job, where instead of working with kids, I meet with people who work with kids and get jealous of the cool things they are doing, is wondering at what level people can really be effective in improving schools. Teaching is the obvious answer and I guess I've realized that even though I wasn't half-bad at it, I just am not cut out for a lifetime in the classroom. Being a principal is something I could see doing when I stop getting carded at bars (I don't care how many people tell me I'm "old enough" -- I just can't imagine parents taking me seriously until I have some gray hair or don't wear Chuck Taylors on the weekends).

When I meet with non-profits from my boss' District, or children's advocacy organizations or people from the City or State D.O.E., they say that it's great having someone working in Education Policy that has experience on the ground in schools and how that provides invaluable insight, yada yada yada. And I don't argue that, but what is policy at the Federal level really "doing?"

Other than the disaster that is No Child Left Behind and the annual appropriations funding show-down that I worked on in March, the things that happen at this level of government feel very removed and abstract to me -- numbers and dollars and formulas and legalese.

I hate to end abruptly, but How I Met Your Mother is about to start, and I'm not sure how much I can write on here without somehow getting in trouble at work and/or fired. I may need to come up with something else to ruminate on... perhaps by April of 2009.