Art, New School

"But you definitely won't have students humping each other in class, that's for sure"

This was the last phrase in a long list of "pros" we brainstormed that ultimately outweighed the "cons" in a dilemma I didn't expect to have this summer: I have decided to leave my current position to take a job at another school.

A little backstory: When we were living in Pittsburgh and finishing our teacher training, we hadn't really considered looking outside the area for jobs, even though the job situation was bleak in southwestern PA. It was on a whim that K (my wife) found a media specialist position open at CH, a renowned and prestigious public high school in the NC college town where she went to undergrad, and a short distance from her home town. Too good to pass up, yes? That's what her interviewing committee thought as well, when they picked her from over 100 applicants.

I got my job at HHS and you only need to skim a few previous posts to see how that went. But to recap: a troubled, resegregated school with strong neighborhood pride and also some strong neighborhood problems. In short, an academic disaster. Look at April/May posts to see the kinds of behavior problems that were customary.

In spite of this environment I was relatively successful in my short tenure. I made some worthwhile connections with students and even had a few breakthroughs along the way. I worked closely with the other performing arts teachers on the musical productions, and I helped to establish a visual art course in the International Baccalaureate program. Plus, it was a thrill to see our National Art Honors Society kids plan and enact an after-school art club for the nearby elementary school.

All of these things outweighed the kid who dropped his pants in class or the girl who cussed me out. Because, in part, I knew that my problems were not as severe as other teachers who were unable or unwilling to make a personal connection with the students. Also, it is often rare that good things outweigh the bad (waiters always remember the 1 bad table, not the 10 good ones), so I knew that these things must have really been true assets. That's why it was not hard to decide to stay at least one more year, even after being emotionally beaten down and exhausted at the end of the first. The next year still looked promising.

So why did I take a job at a different school?

It wasn't because HHS was a difficult school, or because I was unhappy in my placement. Quite the contrary, I told everyone at the end of the year that I had no intention to leave (In fact, teachers and students are reluctant to get to know new teachers because of the high turnover rate). In the back of my mind, however, there were two area schools that could tempt me away from HHS: The district's School for the Arts, and CH.

As it happened, the 30-year veteran art teacher at CH retired without warning this summer. Art teacher jobs are precious and rare commodities, despite the nation-wide teacher shortage, and a job at an academic school with a strong art tradition was impossible to ignore.

So what are the pros and cons, anyway?

Well, the pros are many. It is a school with a strong arts tradition. It has high student participation in visual arts, with students that go on to major in studio art or art history. It is in the process of becoming an arts academy, with which I will be involved (sure to be the subject of future posts). I will be teaching an AP Art History course. And, yes, behavior issues are very different at a school in an academic community. Oh, right, and my wife works there, too! (Indeed a plus - she student taught at my first school)

Cons include a faculty in a state of flux and the fact that this is an affluent community in which students will be successful regardless of who the art teacher is.

Do the CH pros outweigh the HHS pros? It is too soon to say. I hope so. I believe I am making the right decision, because I believe CH is a better fit for me. I did not choose this school because it is where my wife teaches, or because it will be easier (whatever that means) to teach there. I am sure I will find a way to make it hard.

I chose this school because it will challenge, and hopefully reward, everything I love about teaching.

I can say that I leave HHS with great affection, and with the feeling of unfinished business. I am truly disappointed that I did not fulfill my promise to students that I would stay for more than one year. They have become so accustomed to teachers coming and going that new teachers are often greeted with "Hi, I'm ___, are you gonna be here next year?"

I always answered that question "yes".

As it turns out, I am just another teacher who lied to them, who let them down. Art students who will be seniors this year will have had a different art teacher all four years. I am ashamed of this, and am especially sorry to the advanced and IB students with whom I had such a close relationship. But these students will be able to take care of themselves. I feel if I have betrayed anyone it is the student who maybe didn't care about school until my class. To that student, I want to say I'm truly sorry. I am sure they will have another, perhaps better, art teacher but I am sorry that I wasn't true to my word. Ultimately it is a professional decision, and one that I hope is properly reasoned.

My arts partners at HHS will be missed, as will the supportive principal. But I will most miss the great friends and mentors (why is this plural? there is only one Mary Beth) that made the experience so rich. I don't like the air of finality to this post, because I fully intend to raise a happy hour glass with them as often as possible this fall.

Now, who will I root for in HHS homecoming game against CH??

(by the way, CH's colors are black and gold: coincidence?)