It's funny how life works out sometimes. Most people only ever get to experience 3rd grade once in their lifetime. But me? I'm going back for my 3rd time! Each time has been for very different reasons. The first one isn't so special, it was as a student, obviously. However, the next 2 events make for a quite interesting story.
To get the full effect of this story, I need to start in the beginning, with my first experience in 3rd grade. That was way back in 1991, and my teacher is Mrs. Handwerk. Wow...that seems like forever ago!
Fast forward to 2005, when I was a senior year at Malone, studying early childhood education. It's a requirement in the last semester to have a student teaching assignment. Because I commuted to Malone, they were nice enough to place me at a school close to home. All of my other field experiences were in Canton schools, so it was nice to be closer to home. I was shocked to find out that I was actually going back to my old elementary school. I was even more shocked to find out that I was going to be student teaching in the 3rd grade...yes...with Mrs. Handwerk! 14 years later, and I end up in the same classroom! An added coincidence occurred when I found out that the other 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Clark. Mrs. Clark was my 2nd grade teacher! I worked very closely with both of them because their classes switched for certain subjects. I can't tell you how comforting it was to be in a familiar school, with familiar teachers. I really enjoyed my time student teaching, and I had some really great kids. As a side note: I just realized that my 3rd graders from my student teaching class are graduating this year! Oh my goodness!
I graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor's of Science in Early Childhood Education. While looking for a teaching job, I did some subbing. I also continued to work at Lehman's, where I'd been for 4 years as a CSR. Something had been telling me, for quite some time, that I was never going to actually ever be teaching in a school. It was just very hard to picture myself with my own classroom, even though I always really enjoyed my experiences working in classrooms. Other than working on the farm growing up, Lehman's is the only place I had ever worked (and that's still true!) I loved it at Lehman's (and still do), and it was hard to see myself leaving.
A year later, God opened up an amazing opportunity for me. Out of nowhere, a new position was created--"Trainer". It was perfect! Getting that promotion was the best thing that could have happened to me! I got to stay at the place I loved, and (sort of) do the job I went to school for. Perfect timing, and the perfect job...I have no doubt that this was God's master plan for me at work.
You might think that this is where the story ends...but, you'd be wrong. It's now 2014, and it's time again, to go back to 3rd grade...
I never knew this, but Glenda Lehman Ervin, (VP of Marketing and daughter of founder, Jay Lehman), had for years been a Junior Achievement volunteer. She decided that this year, she wanted to pass this on to someone else at Lehman's. Apparently, I was the first person she thought of, so she asked if I was interested. Strangely enough, I had actually volunteered for JA, in 2006 (I think), at Mt. Eaton Elementary School. So, this was actually something I had a little experience with, so I didn't hesitate to accept.
I got kind of excited when Glenda asked me to do it. And that was before I found out WHERE exactly Glenda volunteered. Yep, you guessed it...Dalton Elementary. I was going back "home", yet again. And to my surprise, guess which teachers are still teaching 3rd grade. Mrs. Handwerk and Mrs. Clark! Seriously...what are the odds?!?!
So, today, I went back to 3rd grade for the 3rd time. It's been 9 years since the last time I was there as a student teacher, and 23 years since my first time, as a student. Wow. I think it's truly amazing how all of these seemingly unconnected things have been miraculously interwoven! Don't you think?!
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