This year’s 5th grade trip was rough. The weather for three of the four days was in the 20s and low 30s. All four days we spent at least four to five hours outside doing activities. It was cold.
Really cold.
I was “on” as a teacher from the early morning to late at night and we got around five to six hours of sleep. Even though this was about what I’m used to at home with little kids, like any sleep away from home it wasn’t as restful.
I teach five different grade levels, which manes that my other four grades had a substitute teacher while I was away. Four days is a significant time away and even with the best substitute teacher, curriculum and instruction takes a hit for that week.
Four days and three nights is a lot of time to be away from my family. Diana can handle things with without me but of course it’s harder and takes more out of Diana. My sons were thrown off. Ollie missed me, and Ethan is too young to understand what was going on but expressed concerns over my absence through some challenging behavior and having issues with his sleeping routine.
With all of these challenges, known well-ahead of time, why do I go back to this retreat? This year was my ninth year going, and I would go back again.
There’s the feeling of being part of a tradition, the relationships building opportunities with the students, and the challenge of the trip. This year, what really made the experience special and rewarding was the other teachers.
I love being part of this team of teachers. They value my opinion, I feel trusted and honored in conversations with them, and we have a lot of fun. Even in the worst of times we find ways to make each other laugh. At the same time when we are having hard times, we know how to give people space to feel these feelings.
This is the group of teachers I was with during election night of 2016 on this trip. While I wished I was home, I really valued the memory of sharing this challenging night with these wonderful educators.
At school, I’m part of many different teams but I often don’t feel fully part of any of them. For example, I work with the 3rd grade team but I have other grades I work at the same time so I miss out on a lot with each grade level team. On this trip, with these people, I’m fully feel like I belong.
Some the relationships I value the most at my school come from friendships that started and developed at this retreat. For this, I will forever be grateful.
The creators of this trip made this trip as much for the faculty as they did for the students. The way they worked together and valued each other has been passed down to us. We now have the responsibility to do as they did for the students and each other.
I look forward to going back to Taft next year. It's going to be a challenge, but I know I will have my people there with me. There is magic in this place but it's only been revealed to me because of these wonderful people I am proud to call my colleagues and friends.
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