90s16 Out of Mediapolis

The summer of 1992 we moved into a house southeast of Sperry owned by a school board member. I loved the area but it was too isolated for Becky. It was miles from the nearest paved road and in the year we lived there we had 11 flat tires. The gravel, very hard chert, was too sharp for tires.

To say the least, the winter of 1992-93, was very hard. It remained cold for days and the snow just kept coming. I missed work several days because we just couldn’t get up our driveway to get out to the road.

Things went from bad to worse in the district as the year went on. The board was independent and not at all interested in following the administration in the district. There are many stories I could tell but it is probably best that I let them rest for another time.

The good part of the year was that our first granddaughter, Jazmin, was born in November. We were thrilled and cherished the thought of having a grandchild.

The other good thing about that year was that I was finished with my Ph. D. and could put my full concentration into my work. It was exhilarating! I was excited about leading the district, pursuing my interest in teaching graduate courses and working in the Iowa Writing Project. The future was bright!

In February, I started looking for principal jobs that were advertised in the paper. Iowa City had two openings and I applied. I knew it was unlikely that I would even get an interview but thought it would be a dream job. I was right.

Mt. Pleasant was going to have an opening at Van Allen so I applied for it, too. I got an interview but my history there as one who bucked the administration on several occasions kept me for serious consideration by the old guard. It was pay back time for them. It didn’t really matter how good I could have been. They were content to settle with anything other than me.

You pay a price, sooner or later, for standing up for what is good and right. I knew that from the beginning, but had hoped maybe that somehow people could get by that. I was wrong.

That spring the high school principal retired, the curriculum director left, and the superintendent took at job in southern Iowa. It looked like I would be the only one left. That thought didn’t appeal to me, but gradually I begin to get used to the idea.

That was when I noticed in the paper that one of the Iowa City job was reopened and previous applicants were encouraged to apply. I did and much to my surprise got an interview. I met with a group of 5 administrators and then the superintendent. The interview with the superintendent was different because she did all of the talking and spent the time selling me on the district. I took that as a good sign.

A few days later I was called back for an interview with about a dozen Longfellow teachers and that was followed by an interview with a room full of anxious parents. Much to my surprise I got the job and a nice raise to go with it. I have left out much of this year to get to more pleasant stories and so I move on.