Page 3 of Hot Four Teacher
“Maybe,” I joke. “Let’s see if your hamster gets stuffed by the time you get back.”
Chapter two
A Different Breed
Dane
“Welcome to Lilly Leaf Falls!” The man across the desk exclaims as I walk into his office.
Today is the first day of my new job in a brand-new town. The man who stands up to shake my hand is the principal of the school I’ll now be working at.
“Mr. Eckridge?” I ask. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too! And please call me Tony.” He gestures for me to have a seat.
When we are both settled, he says, “I just wanted to have you in to welcome you and give you the layof the land.”
“I appreciate that.” I pull out a tiny notebook that I always keep in my pocket. I’m always prepared…or at least I try to be.
Tony and I have had a couple of virtual interviews before he gave me the job. Over a Zoom call, he didn’t look nearly as tall as he does in person. I’d say he’s about 6’5” with short strawberry blonde hair.
He says, “I appreciate you being able to come in when the school year has already started. We were in a bit of a lurch.”
“No problem. I’m happy to be able to find something that isn’t virtual.”
At the end of the last school year, the junior high I taught at caught on fire, so we had to go to complete remote learning. The school ended up having too much structural damage to open back up, so the kids all got moved to other schools in the area. That brought a new problem of too many teachers and not enough positions. That led me to look for a job outside of Portland.
This position in the small town of Lilly Leaf Falls happened to open up when a teacher got pregnant and decided to take indefinite maternity leave. Since I didn’t want to drive an hour to and from work every day, I decided to relocate.
Tony asks, “How are you liking the town so far?”
“So far, so good. Everyone seems so nice.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a very friendly place. I moved here for my wife about ten years ago. At first, I thought it was very Stepford. Turns out everyone is just nice to each other.
We both chuckle a little before he goes on. “I won’t take up too much of your time. I’m sure you’re excited to get into it. I’m sorry your classroom is going to be a bit bare. Mrs. Robbins didn’t leave much behind.”
“Not a problem. I have plenty of stuff. I may end up coming in over the weekend to get all set up.”
“Sounds good.” He nods. “I know you’re used to teaching middle school, but I have to tell you that high school kids are a different breed.”
I’m wondering when the last time Tony was actually around middle schoolers. They are absolutely feral. Last year, I had a kid who got mad at another student, punched him in the junk, jumped up on the desk, ripped off his shirt, and declared his love for Metallica. Surprisingly, that wasn’t even the craziest part of the day.
All I say to Tony is, “I’m a marine. I think I can handle it…at least I hope I can.”
“I’m sure you can. But if you need me, just shoot me a text.” He scribbles down his number on a sticky note and hands it to me. “Aside from before and after school, I’m never here in the office. I’m always walking the halls and making sure I’m available to anyone who needs me.”
That’s definitely a change. I’ve never worked with a principal quite like that before.
I fold up his number to put in my pocket and make a mental note to add it to my phone later.
We spend a few more minutes going over rules and procedures before he lets me loose. I make my way back to my classroom, wanting to get a littlemore settled before my first class shows up for the day.
I’m teaching history just like I was back in Portland, but teaching at Lilly Leaf Falls is going to be a little different. At my old job, I only taught one or two subsects of history with multiple classes of each one. More repetition, less work.
Now, I’ll have eight classes, but most of them are different history classes. I’m excited for the new challenge, but I’ll miss all my old kids.
As I get to my classroom, the bell rings, signaling that kids are going to start coming in the building.
