This week is one of the biggest in my career as a teacher. It might be on par with my appointment to department head of the history department at my school and the day I was hired in my district (which was tougher since I was alternatively certified). This week I officially signed paperwork that says I will teach from now on, but not coach. It’s a bittersweet ending, but one that is the best for me and my newly formed family.
I have coached since the day I entered the classroom. To be honest, coaching was really something I wanted to try as well as a way to get my foot in the door with a district. When I was single, I thought I could coach for the rest of my career. Sure there were long nights and early mornings, but what else did I have to do? As I began to progress through engagement and into marriage time became more precious. Suddenly there were more forces at work pulling me all over the place. I wanted to do everything, but I was severely limited due to my coaching responsibilities. My wife and I began talking about what a family would look like and our desires for how it would operate. We didn’t agree on everything, but we did agree that coaching and family life don’t go together in our household. We decided that when we began our family it was time to begin looking for the ability to teach but not coach. I lucked out this year because some situations happened that opened up a full time history teaching position for me to take. Part of my brain thought I would have to leave my district and search for a position that didn’t require me to coach, but luckily that didn’t happen.
I’m really happy to be able to commit to more family events this upcoming school year. I’m excited to be able to take off a Monday, Tuesday, or Friday during the football season without being deathly ill. I’m really excited to be a true department head for the history team. I’m sad to not be around the awesome group of coaches at my school as much, but I’m excited to begin the rest of my teaching career.