Kindergarten

Well now that our life has settled down a bit (for now!) I feel like I have the energy to fiinnallyyyy write about my new incredible job!  I've been annoying Eric with loads of stories lately so I'm giving him a break and filling you all in.

First of all: I love my job.  Here's why...

Dr. B:  Maria Berastain (or Dr. B as the kids call her) is the Kindergarten teacher I am paired with.  I really don't think they could've made a better fit for me.  She used to be in the Army, and has been teaching for over 40 years--everything from Elementary to College level--and has 2 Bachelors, a Masters AND a PhD (mostly dealing with Special Education).  Needless to say, she's super smart, but she's also got a great personality.  She's from Puerto Rico, really sassy, and the kids & parents LOVE her.  We've become quite the duo and are doing really well at working as a team.  I've already learned so much from her and she's given great advice: both personal and job-related.

The Kids:  So so so cute!  We have 24 "Kinders" in our class and I love each one more than the next.  Sure, some are a little hyper but for the most part I spend my day laughing my head off at all the hilarious things they do and say.  Not to mention they love me too---"Mrs. Clark, you're the nicest teacher in the whooooole world"---just one example, haha.  I've already had a few encounters with them at the Commissary where one has spotted me and sprinted over for a hug.  Gosh, I can't even begin to tell you how cute they all are!

The Co-workers:  Since it is an elementary school, 90% of the teachers and aides are women...which allows me my daily dose of girl talk during lunch.  They're all really supportive and understanding too (especially during all this stuff with Eric's health) because they are ALL Army wives.  It's so nice to be working with smart ladies who totally get what my life is like.  What's really crazy is that out of all the young women working there, I am the ONLY one whose husband is not in Afghanistan.

The Environment:  The school is about a 5 minute drive from our house and just is the best place to be working.  It's only about 3 years old, so everything is nice and new.  The day goes by fast too with our schedule (and so many kids) but each day last week just got better and better.

School for "Kinders" started this past Tuesday, but I have actually been working with Dr. B since the 25th doing things like setting up our classroom, making copies, writing LOTS of name-tags, etc etc.  One other awesome thing that the military schools do for incoming Kindergartners is have home visits.  That's about a 30 minute visit we make to the child's home the week before school starts to meet them, their family, and get a lot of background on their personalities and lifestyle.  It also gets the kids used to us.  Visiting each family was so informative and interesting: in good and bad ways.  It was just really good to get that insight into each child before they showed up on the first day.  Having a class full of 100% Army-kids lends to different issues than you might have state-side.  We have handfuls of Kinders whose fathers are in the Middle East, a few who JUST moved to Germany, a few who are moving to the states in a few months, one whose parents are BOTH enlisted and were BOTH deployed at the same time last year, and one girl who is being raised by a single-parent enlisted father.  Meeting them at their homes, and finding out all this background info really made me completely more patient, understanding and nonjudgmental than I think I would've been otherwise.  It gave a lot of answers to questions like "Why is he so hyper?" or "Why is he always so tired?"  But it's not all bad stuff either; after most of the houses we visited, we'd leave saying something like "What a loving family!"

Tuesday was a hectic day having them all there and none of us being 100%-set on the schedule, but like I said: each day it has gotten easier and easier.  We've had a few criers but really no serious problems whatsoever.  The other aides have been really helpful when I need it and I can tell that we're all getting really close.  All in all, it's already one of the best jobs I've ever had and I'm going to be sooo sad to leave them when we find out when we'll be leaving here and headed back to WA.

(Little off-topic note:  Eric's little sister, Jane, started Kindergarten the same day our school started!!  How cute right?  I'm so anxious to see her this winter and see everything she is doing and learning.  I think it's really special that we both had our "first year" together.)