Long Days

There are some days, where I absolutely love my job.

Friday, was definitely one of those days.

My day started like most of mine do, with the alarm clock going off at 4:00 AM.  I stumbled out of bed, to start the process of getting ready. By 5:00 AM, I was out the door, with my breakfast in hand, and on the road.  I arrived at school at 6:00 AM, still dark outside, to begin preparing for the day.  Classes began, and by noon, I was done with my "teaching" for the day. 

Now, on most days, I am able to leave at 2:00.  However, Friday was no ordinary day.  As 2:00 PM came and went, I was in my room, grading papers, looking forward to the events to come.  Before I left the school, I stopped by and watched part of the boy's soccer game.  I didn't get to watch all of it, but they ended up tying, which bumped them up into 4th in the conference, the cutoff to make the playoffs.  I headed over to King High School, one of Poly's biggest rivals (who all of our teams were playing on Friday), to watch our girl's soccer team play at 5:00 PM.  Our girls team have had a great season so far, and is in a tight race for 1st place in the conference.  The game against King, who is tied for third, would go along way to deciding the conference champion.  In a great game, they were able to hang on for a 2-1 victory.  So far, 2-0 against King.

As soon as the game ended, I hung around just long enough to congratulate some of my students on the big win, before heading back to Poly for the Senior Night basketball games.  I got back to school in time to see our girl's start the second half.  They were down, but played hard and fought back.  With a few clutch free throws down the stretch, the Lady Bears were able to hang on for a 46-43 win.

Poly 3- King 0

The guys game tipped off right around 8:00 PM. Poly jumped out early, with King coming back to take the lead.  It was a back and forth game, with all the intensity a rivalry game would normally entail.  The game headed into overtime, and Poly was able to hold on for the 70-67 win. 

Poly 4-King 0

I headed back to my car as the clock struck 10:00 PM.  Tired, I headed back down Highway 60 to head home, finally arriving at home just a little before 11:00 PM. 

I'm amazed how many times I get asked "why do you teach?" On this same day, actually, I had a student ask why I wanted to teach, and not do something, you know, more important.  It is these long days, where I come home late, exhausted that I often love my job the most.  Friday I not only got to teach a subject that I love and think is so vital to know, but I also got to spend my day around some amazing kids.  I got to see them struggle with new ideas in the classroom, work through their own thought processes to understand and comprehend new ideas, and use knowledge they already had.  I got to witness first hand them struggle, fight, sweat, display emotion, work together, and demonstrate the talents they have worked for years to hone.  I saw them triumph, celebrate, and show true joy.

I am lucky enough to be a part of these students' lives.  There is nothing else I would rather be doing.  That my friends, is why I teach.

Signing Day

Signing day, especially the middle one in early February, is almost like a holiday for many Southerners who are college football fans.  As a Clemson fan, I know a lot of the top recruits by name.  I know who the targets are, who the five star recruits are.  For the hardcore fan, signing day is the day they look forward to the most once the bowl games end.  The thing that the average fan sometimes forgets, no matter how "sure-fire" the recruit is, how successful they become, or how big of a "bust" they become, right now they are high school students.  They are so excited at this point in their life.  Many are living their dream, and their hard work over the past year, four years, and in most cases much longer, have paid off.

Tomorrow on signing day, I want to honor my students this year, and my three years at Chesnee, who participated in one of the three NCAA signing days.  I have so much respect for these students, because I know the hard work and dedication that it takes to reach that point.  Working with the football team at Gardner-Webb for two years gave me a much better understanding of just what a different level college athletics really is.  So here is a list of my former students, sport, and school.  (Let me know if I forgot any!)

Poly High School

Kara Howard (Softball) University of Kentucky

Cori Reinhardt (Softball) Cal State Monterey Bay

Sara Macias (Water Polo) University of Southern California

Jillian Yocum (Water Polo) Univerisity of California Irvine

Nicole Frank (Soccer) Lamar University

Kenzie Estes (Cross Country) Northern Arizona University

Casey Foster (Soccer) University of California Riverside *{signing in Spring}

Chesnee High School

Haley Gregg (Softball) North Greenville University

Raheem Hughes (Football) North Greenville University

Zack Miller (Football/Track) North Greenville University

Austin High (Cross Country/Track) Lees-McRae University

Stephen Cantrell (Baseball) Wofford

David Jones (Baseball) Southern Wesleyan University

Sierra Wilkinson (Softball) Spartanburg Methodist College

Holly Woodrum (Softball) Lander

Jalen Martin (Basketball) Erskine

Corey Frye (Baseball) Anderson University

Justin Blackwell (Cross Country/Track) Spartanburg Methodist College

Marcus Ovalle (Wrestling) Spartanburg Methodist College

Allyson Brislinger (Volleyball) Huntingdon College

Cedric Proctor (Football) South Carolina State

Josh Jones (Track) University of South Carolina

Gaffney High School
Hillary Key (Softball) North Greenville University
Julie Sarratt (Softball) University of South Carolina
(yeah, I know... I never taught there, but I claim these two also)

There may be a couple more in the spring that I'll be able to add. Sorry if I forgot anyone... just let me know and I'll add them.  I'm so proud of not just these kids, but all of my students who have gotten music, theater, band, cheering, and just regular ol' academic scholarships.  SO PROUD OF ALL OF THEM!