A New Opportunity

I am happy to announce that today I am starting a new job!  I have been hired to teach English Secondary V, in an Adult Learning Center, four afternoons a week.

A number of you received this news directly from me yesterday, as I have had to cancel all of my afternoon fitness commitments in order to make this dream a reality.

Please note that none of my morning classes will be affected.

I originally studied at McGill University to teach English and MRE ( moral and religious education) at the secondary level. I came out of school full of energy, ready to help young people achieve their goals.  I did some substitution work but then my husband and I decided to start our family, so I put my dreams on the shelf and focused on raising our three amazing children.

I went to school at night to become a Personal Trainer/Fitness Instructor and then once I completed that dream, I worked in the evenings when my husband could be at home with the kids.

I fell in love with helping people to become healthier but my heart has always wanted to get back into the classroom. I need to know if I can have as great an impact on today's kids, as I have had on all of you!

I am so lucky to have many retired teachers in my fitness classes and one of them in particular felt that I would be best suited to teaching in the Adult sector. She saw something in me that I had forgotten was there.  Last year, she took me by the hand to this particular center and introduced me to some of the staff.  I have not been in a typical classroom in over 15 years, so part of me thought that she was a bit nuts however I felt that I needed to trust her.  As things unfolded last year it became apparent to me that the timing was not right.

On Wednesday, the phone rang and I was called in for an interview for a teaching job that would start Friday. What a crazy few days this has been.

I am absolutely thrilled to have this opportunity to see if I can help young adults.

This is my dream job. I get to keep leading and teaching my fitness students, while at the same time teaching English at the high school level.

I am going to make mistakes but as I have explained to you before, if I wait until I think I am perfect, I will never do anything different. The classroom is so different from when I studied at McGill. I am going to need a lot of help.

Am I the best English teacher the world has ever known?  Probably not.

Do I really care about my students and want them to succeed? Absolutely.

Will I do everything that is physically possible to help them to be successful?  Yes. 

I have the heart and I have the will. The rest will fall into place.

Please wish me luck.

Have a great weekend everyone,
Beth