Hi again,
Not thirty minutes after I proclaimed my news in an effort to bolster my spirits and calm my fears about my new Alaska adventure, I finally heard back from a school in Santa Ana offering me a position teaching at their school. I began pursuing this position when a Santa Ana city councilman who also coaches southern California's largest speech and debate team at Fullerton Union High School asked me to help him start a new program at this new high school in Santa Ana, wanting to change the lives of Latino youth in this community and the negative perception of Santa Ana schools in general. It sounds like a tall order, but anyone who knows Sal Tinajero personally, knows he can do it if anyone can. And I'm honored that he wants me to help him do it. (And for you Fullerton folk, don't worry. Sal isn't abandoning FUHS; we will be working as partner campuses).
When I didn't hear back from the school last Thursday, I assumed the rumors that they would need to fill the positions with teachers who had been displaced from other schools in the district were true and proceeded with my Alaska plans, hoping to find a position long-distance with Sal's help as new grade levels opened up next year (the school is starting out with only freshmen and sophomores this year, slowly phasing in more classes until the entering sophomores graduate as seniors in 2010). Godinez High School will begin its first year of operation this coming fall and I will work in a small English department comprised of five English teachers to get things started for the entering freshmen and sophomores. Working in a small department at a brand new school offers me unique opportunities to provide input in curriculum decisions. I'll also probably have more chances to use my Spanish minor here than in a Yupik village!
Can you hear me trying to convince myself that this is the better option? Needless to say, I'm still coming down from yesterday's romantic projections of my Alaska future, but the practical voices of my mother and pragmatic friends and family have convinced me that I have more of a future here...and that running away from our woes isn't really possible, not even in the wilds of Alaska, since, as a wise person once said, "Wherever you go, there you are." So, I'm sending this more than anything to prevent the pain of more incoming congratulatory remarks on an adventure that I've decided to save for summer vacations. Go ahead, say it. It's the big elephant in the room: SELL-OUT! Here are some previews of the landscape, wildlife, and adventures I will continue to find here.
Still begrudgingly,
Your California Girl
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