Monday, May 30, 2011

A New Journey!

Last week, I embarked on a new journey! I returned to college to get a Masters in Educational Technology Leadership from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

For many years, my husband and family have tried to convince me I should return to college to work on my Masters Degree. I had all the excuses you could image from work, to starting my own consulting business, to life in general. It wasn't that I didn't want a Masters degree, but I wasn't sure of the time commitment it would involve. I also did not know what I would go back to school to study. I started in the field of education by getting a degree in Distributive Education from Angelo State University. Upon graduation, my husband, Mike, and I married and moved to Monahans, Texas were there were no jobs in distributive education, or DECA as many people might remember.

I soon became involved in our church's youth program which later led to becoming the youth minister for First Baptist Church, Monahans, Texas. A female youth minister in the early 80's was quite unheard of. After almost four years, I resigned my full-time position to start our family of which we are blessed with a wonderful daughter, Staci.

Many years later and changes in West Texas led us to San Marcos, Texas where Mike and I owned and operated a Christian book, gifts, and music store. During this time, I returned to teaching in the public school. Goodnight Junior High became the place where I started to broaden by educational experiences. Still no distributive education position in sight, so I substituted for a year hoping to get my foot in the door. That I did!

The following year just after Labor Day weekend, I was offered a position as the Reading and ESL teacher. I returned to school and prepared myself for getting certified in reading and ESL. During the course of the next years, I worked on adding Language Arts-Secondary, English Second Language-all levels, Reading-all levels, and Business certifications.

San Marcos opened another brand new junior high school, Miller Junior High School and I was privileged to part of the staff that opened this beautiful building. I loved teaching and working with at-risk students so much, I never wanted to leave the classroom until one day when ...

Wait until the next posting and I will continue the story of My Life in Education.

1 comment:

  1. I'm loving this, Mary. I can't wait to keep up with this new journey of yours. You write as well as you speak, and I can hear your voice as I read your words. Joy for my soul!

    ReplyDelete