Big Changes

Our family is about to have some big changes. These are changes that will directly affect everyone except Jenna. These changes have been cooking for weeks and now it’s time to share.

I will start with Vicki since you already know she will be resigning from her position at church. Shortly after she had submitted her resignation Ralph Illges, a friend of ours from church who owns and operates Silver Spring Capital, approached Vicki about a part time position at his office. Ralph’s business is a financial planning and investment service in Springfield. He had been considering the idea of some extra help in his office for some time. When he heard Vicki was resigning at church he felt she would be a good fit. (Vicki and Ralph’s wife, Mary Phil, also work together at church.) Vicki and Ralph met a couple of times about the job and she accepted. Vicki will begin her new employment on August 3.

I am the next big piece to the changes in our family. I have accepted a position with Davidson Academy (DA), a private school in Madison. There have been several kids from our church attend there over the years, most notably for the sake of this newsletter is that all four of Kenny and Lori’s kids are either alumni or still enrolled (that would be Wilson). Their oldest son, Mac, even returned a few years ago as a teacher and coach.

I was alerted to a position at DA near the end of May by a former colleague of mine who left the Technology Department two years ago for a job there. I will have some part time classroom responsibilities teaching a 7th grade Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) class as well as a couple of high school level Exploring Computer Science electives which will focus on HTML programming. My non-classroom responsibilities will include providing tech support to teachers and students for their iPads, renovating DA’s website, and helping to develop a way to archive and present documents and files for student portfolios.

I will confess this has been a heart wrenching decision and the entire month of June has proven to be a wild emotional roller coaster ride for me. I have worked for Robertson County Schools for 21 years. I was originally hired as a math and science teacher at Jo Byrns School (a K-12 school at that time), but have spent the last 18 years with the Technology Department. In that capacity, I have worked on computers and servers, trained teachers, and maintained the website just to mention a few things. If it has to do with technology in a school I’ve probably touched it. I may not know everything about it, but I’ve probably worked with it none the less.

My job changed dramatically in 2006 when I took over responsibilities for the student data and sate reporting. Over the last few years these responsibilities brought a lot of frustrations because they made me feel like I was playing a game I could not win. At this point I began praying about what to do about my job. For a long time I had felt God was saying, “Not yet.” Over the last few weeks--since Vicki resigned and without any warning--things just started falling into place. In that time I felt that God’s answer to my prayer had changed to: “The door of opportunity is now open for you, but only for a short time. I will be with you in whatever you decide to do.” So, I felt it was time to take the opportunity before me.

I will leave behind a school system full of valued friends. As I leave I am secure in the fact that I have done my very best to do the job right. I have received a lot of affirmation from the people I work with as the news of my departure has spread which means a lot to me.

One part of my decision to move to DA is the opportunity to move the boys there as well. Jenna will stay at East Robertson since she is a senior, but the boys will be coming with me. I have been assured that Ben will have the opportunity to try out for the basketball team this fall. If he lands a spot it will be odd at first to see him in a Bears jersey rather than an Indians jersey even though the school colors are the same. I know changing schools will be big for Ben and Nate, but they have been positive about it so far. At least I can say the three of us are in this together.

So there you have it. Big changes for our family. Vicki made the comment that we are the most consistent people we know, but this summer sure has blown that notion out of the water. The irony here is that Vicki will begin her new job just a block away from my old office on the very day I begin my new job at Davidson Academy.

Joe