By: Maudie Gooden, NEA-J President

It’s Spring Cleaning Time

No matter how hard I try to ignore a mess, I can’t work in chaos so around this time each year, I do my major spring cleaning.  I clean both at work and at home which gives me a sense of being in total control of my destiny.  I’m always amazed on how much stuff I have!  I find things that I forgot I bought.  I also find objects that give me a pleasant surprise such as old thank you card from one of my students or a ticket stub to a great concert I attended a summer ago.

Such encounters are what make spring cleaning just a little bit more interesting, and give me that much motivation to clear out all the old items in my room.  And at the same time, it is nice to visit an earlier period of my life, it’s sort of like therapy I’m able to find mementos from my past that remind me of certain situations and I’m not annoyed or upset seeing them again because they are definitely a part of my past.  Once I examined these items I’m ready to throw most away because they don’t have the same sentimental meaning anymore..

Day two of my spring cleaning this year took place in the garage because I got tired of looking at some unorganized piles of old folders and boxes, and decided to tackle the task of getting rid of all the junk that was interfering with me being able to park my car in the garage.  I worked for hours getting my garage in order.  Finally, when I opened the last box labeled “stuff,” there were a bunch of old papers inside the box that I knew I would never need.  I decided on an impulse to throw the entire box in the trash can without taking the time to look and see what was at the bottom, even though a funny feeling came over me indicating that something wasn’t quite right.  I disregarded my gut feeling and put the entire box in the trash.

The next day at work, I had this uneasy feeling that wouldn’t go away.  Once home from work, I got the box out of the trash and spread everything out on the floor to discover my teaching credential at the bottom of the box.  I stared at my teaching credential as if I had found an old friend, as I began my journey down memory lane.

I started thinking about my first year in our school district, and how this young woman, straight out of college, and how I had all this energy, and how I wanted to make a difference in the classroom.  My goal was to make sure that every student I taught would graduate with honors.  I was very naïve back then.  Through my many experiences teaching, I discovered that there is no such thing as a good student or a bad student.  There are choices and actions that lead us in different directions, and it is through those choices and actions that we create our realities.  I have also learned not to label my students.  Instead, I have the same dreams and aspirations for all of them.  I have tried to reach all of the students I teach.  Some I have been successful with, and others I have lost because they believed in childhood labels that were given to them.  It was times like this that I felt I wanted to give up.  But, I’m so glad I didn’t.

Looking at my teaching credential that night gave me a real sense of realization, pride and also sadness on what I really feel about my profession, and why I decided to teach.  I see my teaching career as an invaluable one – a place where I also learned just like the students I taught.  I, too, learned lessons that have equipped me for life’s challenges.  For example, teaching taught me to value hard work, how to be self-reliant, goal oriented, and disciplined. 

I guess you can say that today, I became reunited with my teaching past my “roots” during my spring cleaning ritual.  Connecting with my past helps me clearly see the truth that had been hiding underneath so much clutter! Undoubtedly, I can see how far we have come and how much further we need to go.  Attacks on public education with vouchers, No Child left Behind, High-stakes testing is putting teachers under unnecessary scrutiny.  We are slowly forgetting about all the fun we used to have teaching.  Unfortunately, too much time is being directed to specifically state test-related skills which leave very little time for music, drama, and physical education programs at the elementary level.

As your union president I encourage you to do your own spring cleaning.  Perhaps, you will be as fortunate as I was by finding a new sense of purpose by reconnecting with your past.  With all of us making the connection together we will be inspired to fight for a better future for our students and for our profession.  It is time to get rid of the negative dust, cluster and disorder that has been lingering too long on our profession.  It’s time to discuss openly with our legislatures the issues that we can no long ignore and are impossible to solve without our input!  No more dirty closets.  No more denial!  It’s time to get them to do what is right!