Things End, and Things Begin

With the end of summer, it is back to the grind of another school year. My school district started a little earlier this year, starting in early August. So far, things have gone well. I am back teaching 6th-grade Social Studies, and my students seem eager to learn. I’ve also taken on some more responsibilities at work. I am the team leader for my team of teachers (due to having a new teacher, another out on medical leave, and the other who didn’t want to do it). Also, I was made Social Studies department chair, which I have done before. On top of that, I have been selected to be a mentor teacher to one of our new teachers (which I have never done before). It is shaping to be a busy 10th year in the profession.

I have taken on these extra responsibilities, making me even more happy that I stepped away from coaching last year. As some may know, I coached archery for several years at my old school. I helped build the program, and with a great team of assistant coaches, we took home two district championships. But right around the time Covid lockdowns hit, I started feeling burnout. It is a very long season (we started in October and would keep going until May, or longer if we got into the post-season). We also only had a handful of kids who were really into it after we started back from lockdown; for the others, we babysat them.