It’s no secret that we, the teachers at the Blue Mountain Union School, and our school board have had a contentious go of it recently. We should have had a settled contract by now; instead, we have a school board that went back on its word after reaching a deal with us, leaving us in our third month without a contract – and with a pay cut to boot.
But as someone who spends every day inside our school working with students, I sometimes have trouble reconciling what some in the community – including some school board members – say about our school and what actually happens here.
So let me set the record straight: we love our jobs. We love our students. And the magic of learning and teaching happens multiple times every day. In fact, my heart is filled with joy each morning when students tell me how much they love school. While teaching is a job – one that should allow us all to earn a fair wage, enjoy good benefits, work in a safe and secure building, and have time to collaborate with each other – it is also a journey.
Sometimes, it’s a simple journey. Figuring out how to calculate the area of a triangle. Understanding one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Seeing how water boils. Making sense of a piece of art. Tying shoes on the first try. Learning about a far-away country. Playing a trumpet for the first time.
Education is wonder – and wonderful. And it’s a team endeavor.
Just this week, our librarian and I – the school’s art teacher – are connecting literacy and art. All of our students – pre-kindergarten through 12th grade – painted pumpkins based on favorite storybook characters. The pumpkins were donated by a local farm; high school and middle school students helped pick them all; and we used paint we already had on hand.
This project didn’t cost the school – or students – a cent. The results are as amazing as you can imagine. And while the finished pumpkins all tell a story, the laughter, banter, and sheer joy – yes sheer joy – our students experienced is something we won’t soon forget.
We also just had our family math night, and it was a huge success. The event – organized and run by my colleagues – drew 125 people. To a math night. I can tell you, there were many squeals of delight (Pythagorean Theorem anyone?) as the secrets of mathematics were revealed – and not just among the younger students.
My colleagues and I have the privilege of teaching and nurturing young minds, helping them navigate the world in a way that hopefully lets them become healthy and happy adults pursuing whatever path they want in life. That is why we do what we do.
But as I said earlier, we are also professionals doing a job. A job that should allow us to pay our mortgages, put food on our tables, clothes on our and our own children’s backs. Not having a contract – especially since we thought our school board would honor its word – leaves us tense, worried, and unsure of the future. It’s more than the pay cuts we’re all experiencing this year – especially since the superintendent and other administrators all saw substantial raises. It’s the shattered trust caused by the school board’s refusal to ratify a contract that my colleagues and I unanimously approved.
Every school year begins with promise. We see that with math night. We see that with the painted pumpkins. We see that with every “aha” moment.
As we enter more protracted negotiations with our school board, we are hopeful that they will take a moment and reflect on what goes on inside our school every day. And hopeful that as they do, they will do what’s right and honor the deal they made.
Jennifer Dube is a longtime Blue Mountain art teacher, who is writing this on behalf of the Blue Mountain Education Association. She lives in West Newbury.
