Beginning's end

7/2/10 Rowe School documents (and other random papers), recycled

I did something today I haven't done in almost seven years. I started a new job. I am now, officially, the Resident Principal of SOAR Charter School. Man, that should be exciting.

Of course, in the words of the Semisonic song, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." That's pop culture poetry, folks.

As I prepared to go to work this morning, I cleaned out my book bag in preparation for the new job. A bunch of stuff from the old job was still in there, including my old school's staff directory, phone tree, and information about summer payment. These things, of course, are irrelevant to me now, and yet not easy to let go of.

The great joy of a job such as educating, however, is that you never really let go of the past. What you do today and tomorrow must be built on what you've learned yesterday. We're not building widgets here, we're teaching kids. It's not something you ever do perfectly, and it's not something you can ever stop striving to get better at.

I don't need that directory to hold onto the brilliance of my colleagues, to hold onto what I've learned from them, to hold onto the gifts they prepared for my future students. I let those papers go with the knowledge that the important stuff stays with me.

But, today was a new beginning, and that is notable.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.