I am moving into high school. I will still do an elementary story now and then but it is time to transfer to Rangeview High School. I will be using my experience in several areas as the basis for these stories.
- Classroom Teacher in Business, Engineering, and STEM
- Technology Coordinator
- Baseball Coach
- Softball Coach
- Performing Arts Staff
- Student Leadership and Senior Sponsor
- German Exchange
I have to start with the first moments of considering changing to high school. It starts on a sad occasion but it propelled me to this career. I had an aunt who was one of the nicest and genuinely great people. Aunt Dorothy served in many roles in the city of Sheridan, Colorado during her life. She and my Uncle Bill had positions from the city council all the way to the school board in their time. They were the most civic-minded people I ever knew. Another indicator of this was that many of my cousins have followed their lead. Aunt Dorothy was able to charm anyone and was sincere in all she did. Many years ago my Aunt Dorothy passed away and the whole town came to the services. While she was on the school board they hired Marc Stine as the principal of Sheridan High School. He moved from there to Aurora Central and then to Rangeview. Marc was at my aunt’s service. I knew of him because he cast a large shadow in APS and was someone that has charisma. He was a dynamic principal and I learned a great deal from him in the short time we were together at Rangeview.
During the reception, we started talking about things in APS and the remembrances of my aunt. The one thing that we talked about was the crafts that my aunt did. Our favorite craft were the same. Aunt Dorothy made these large sugar eggs that had a cellophane window on one end and revealed a scene inside. She used to give those out and I always treasured the one I had for many years. When it was time to leave Marc mentioned that If I ever wanted to go to high school let him know. Many months later I happened to see him at a school board meeting in APS. We chatted in the parking lot and he told me that he had a teacher turn in her papers to retire and that he expected my transfer paperwork to be turned in by the end of the week. At the time all of the paperwork was hard copies and required me to ask the secretary in our building for the paperwork. I couldn’t do anything in secret but I told the principal at Montview that it was just a long shot and that I probably wouldn’t even get an interview. I did get an interview and you know the story then goes on for over the next twenty years all the way to today. I am not going to tell the entire story of the hiring process because there is enough about the interview process that deserves its own story. I will be forever grateful to my aunt for the way she was in life and I can’t help but think she had a hand in changing the trajectory of my career.