[many944s]

Ok, so I thought my hobbies were expensive! As far as hobbies go, I suppose they are, but my wife just got her first teaching job teaching first grade at a brand new school. Since they just built the school, she isn't taking over an old classroom, so we got to buy EVERYTHING needed for putting together a classroom... I had no idea! Thankfully my mom taught for years before becoming a media specialist, and one of my wife’s friends just retired last year from teaching kindergarten, so that helped. Of course to make things worse, classes start tomorrow (Tuesday), tonight is the open house, and she was hired on Saturday! Needless to say Sunday and today were extremely busy days. I don't want to see bulletin board boarders, contact paper, or Scotch foam adhesive squares for a LONG time

It's kind of frightening to walk the halls and see the rooms of some of the teachers that transferred from other schools in the corporation. There are more decorations and books than you can shake a stick at! Knowing what it cost to just get my wife’s room to the point it is, I can't imagine what kind of investment some of these other teachers have in their classroom supplies!

We were keeping our fingers crossed that there may have been a new-teacher stipend to help off-set the cost, but just this afternoon a representative came around asking if she was interested in the $1000 LOAN program that would later be deducted from her paychecks...CLOSE!

Oh well, I'm not complaining at all! It's a second income, and she loves teaching, so I am behind her %110! It's no wonder it's tough for schools to get good teachers though! I think when all is said and done; it's almost a break-even job! At least until you have been there long enough to get a couple of raises and have a stockpile of room supplies. I truly salute quality educators! Not that I had many when I went through school, but they are out there!

Sorry for the rant,
-Nick