My favorite part of Idaho Falls is the Snake River Landing development along the river. It is beautiful - and vacant! Right now only a scant handful of businesses occupy the many buildings located there. It's such a shame to see this prime area standing empty like this. It has become a real sign of the times for me. Being one of "those teachers" we hear so much about on the news and in opinion articles, our family is dealing with the recent legislative cuts to education more than most. Not only are both of us employed as teachers, we also have Bailee who is making her way through the school system. As we see not only our salaries on the chopping block, but many beneficial educational programs as well, you can't help but get discouraged. I'm teaching with only half the lights on in my classroom, turning off all the lights whenever possible (we're supposed to have them off for at least one hour a day), I'm putting all tests and work on our Smart Board to do away with paper (even though this is difficult for many of my challenged students), and every day we are told to find something more to cut. At this moment in time, we are unsure of whether or not we will be able to afford to provide textbooks for all of our students (our enrollment in fifth grade is scheduled to increase from 106 students to 144 students next year). My students expect me to provide them with pencils, pencil lead, paper, erasers, and dry erase markers. Right now I am out of everything, and I'm hesitant to invest my own money in my classroom right now. Part of me says "Why should I?" and another part says "How can I not?"
The most difficult part of this is knowing the effect that it will have on Bailee's education. We are watching the cuts very carefully, knowing that the decisions made now will have a dramatic effect on our futures.
Good friend, Mike Thompson, is still down in Salt Lake at the Huntsman Center. He had surgery to remove the sarcoma from his leg on Wednesday. I hate cancer. It is so cruel!
School is SUCH a depressing place these days. The nontenured staff are frantic about finding jobs next year, certain that they will not be hired back. The district is also apparently taking steps to fire teachers who are tenured. Lots of hush hush meetings and such. Our little island in the fifth grade wing has been spared from all this, but the atmosphere throughout the rest of the school is pretty dismal.
We were tantalized with a hint of spring this week, only to have the rug pulled out from beneath us. When I stepped out of school last night, I walked out into a raging snowstorm! It was incredible! Horribly depressing as well. The worst of the storm was located around Ucon and Rigby, but Idaho Falls and Ammon were not immune. There's snow on the ground this morning and our temperature is sitting at 25 degrees. Spring? What's that? Like Bailee says, "Spring is NEVER going to come!" So it seems.
Hadlee's groomer was killed in a car accident this past week. Mom is devastated. She was very fond of Stephanie. She was only 29 years old and leaves behind a husband and four young children. Lately, I find myself wondering "WHY?" an awful lot. Why do things like this happen? Why do good people suffer? Why? Why? Why? Then I have to wonder, "Why not?" Goodness doesn't make anyone immune to suffering or problems. I guess our mistake is thinking it should. Maybe that's what truly makes good people so good. They accept the challenges and hurts of life and ARE still good.
We're off to a day of dance. The fashion show is tonight and all of us are eager for it to be over. Bailee most of all. This has NOT been a very good experience for her, sad to say. I think she may have learned something valuable from it though. More on that line of thought another time. Have a great week friends!
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