A Long, Dull, Stupid Story: Part 2

Last year at around this time I was living in Montana and looking for a teaching job in Idaho. I found a really promising opening in one of the school districts around here. They needed someone to teach art part time and English part time and I am certified for both. You can read the whole long, dull, stupid story here.
(**Spoiler: I didn't get the job.**)

Now a year passed. I live in Idaho. I worked as a reading instructor at an elementary school for a year since no other teaching jobs were available. I took the instructor job even though it paid 1/4 of what I was making in Montana (which was barely above poverty level to begin with). It was a thirty mile round trip every day, but I thought it would be well worth it because of what I was told when I was interviewed. They told me it would be a great way to get my foot in the door of this school district. In fact, there were eight new teachers that just got hired who had all worked as aides and tutors the year before. They even introduced me to these people and made me shake hands with them and stuff.

So I suffered through a year of reading instruction. The job wasn't bad at all. Yes, the pay was very little, but it wasn't a difficult job. The problem was that the teacher I was assigned to work with did nothing and left everything up to me. She was a full-time teacher, she was paid a full-time salary. But she didn't DO anything. By the end of the year, I kid you not, our students STILL DID NOT KNOW HER NAME. I was just the assistant but they thought I was in charge of the classroom. She was never in there, she NEVER prepared lessons, she never addressed disciplinary issues, she never did anything. I wanted to complain about this. I wanted to scream. BUT... I wanted to be a team player, too. I wanted to go along with it, endure it for a year. I accepted every additional duty or little job I was asked to do by the principal. If they needed someone to stand outside in sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds for recess duty, I always accepted. I sacrificed my lunch time every single Friday so that they would have someone on recess duty. I went to meetings that had nothing to do with me or my job and didn't complain. I contacted parents to talk about their kids because the head teacher would not (who ever heard of an aide calling parents?! It's insane!). Basically I wanted to show them that I was a good guy, that I would be an ideal candidate for a full time teacher.

As the end of the year rolled around, I started asking around for teacher openings in the district. I always got puzzled looks at this.

"Oh, no. No, no. No new teachers this year. We've hired everyone we need for a while."

This is basically what I heard from everyone. High school principals. Middle school principals. Secretaries. District offices. Human resources. Everyone.

I felt a teensy bit duped. Was it possible when they hired me that they honestly thought they would have teacher openings next year? Yeah, it's possible. I guess. But more likely, I think they knew damn well that there were going to be no openings in the high schools and middle schools.

But whatever, right? Screw 'em. I learned my lesson. When it became clear that they would have no job openings next year, I had nothing to lose. I went in to the district office and told a higher-up about the horrors of that classroom that I worked in. Told them how I did the job of a full-time teacher all year, and that I would only come back to work as a tutor if I were placed in a different school. The guy smiled and nodded because he knew all along what I had been going through.

He told me she had always been a problem. He knew, he assured me.

***

I put in applications all over the place. Nobody is hiring, of course. The Idaho school system is crashing down all around us. Everything is falling apart. It's almost chaotic. I peddle my resume and skills to different schools like some door-to-door knife salesman. I put in applications with every single district within a 25 mile radius.

I eventually get a phone call, two weeks into summer vacation. I got an interview! It's with a middle school! Cool! Seventh grade English! I love it. I'm very excited and prepare myself for an awesome interview.

June 20th
Monday - 2:30 PM

The interview was great! It was very casual, very relaxed. I talked myself up and made them laugh. I felt as though I impressed them.

"When will I have an answer?" I asked.

"We'll let you know by the end of the day tomorrow," she said.

"Oh cool! That fast?"

"Yes, we really need to get this position filled. It should have been filled last week... But is there anything else you'd like to know? Any other questions?"

"Well I... You know, I'll just hold off on the questions for now. When I find out if it's a yes or a no, then I'll go from there."

"Oh? Are you...? Okay then," she said, as if she were surprised I didn't want to get ahead of myself.

Tuesday, June 21st
She said "by the end of the day tomorrow." I didn't know what that meant, exactly. The end of the school day? The end of her day spent in the office? I had no idea how long she stayed in her office during summer vacation. I assumed it would be around three or four o'clock. I waited patiently. I didn't know what to do with myself because I was nervous, so I watched movies all day.

2:00 PM
I had a bad feeling about everything at around two in the afternoon. I didn't want to call them, though. They hadn't had a chance to live up to their word yet. So I waited.


3:00 PM
Still nothing. Office workers and administrators started packing up to head home about this time.


4:00 PM
Nothing. I remembered how last year I received an e-mail from a different principal in a different school district in Idaho, also regarding a job. The e-mail had been sent at 5:15 PM. Maybe they stayed later than I thought?

4:30 PM
Eh, who was I kidding? I called the school. No answer, no voice mail. I called the district offices. No answer, but they did have a district-wide voice mail system. I typed in the principal's extension and left a voice mail.

"Hi there, this is J. Lahondere. I had an interview there yesterday. I never heard back from anyone, so I was just checking on the status of that position. Do you have a ballpark figure on when a decision will be made? Please call me back whenever you get this. Thank you."


June 22nd
Wednesday - 11:45 PM

I tried calling the school again. Still no answer. The school was pretty empty when I went in for the interview. It was nothing but custodians, the principal, and one other teacher who was assisting in the interview. No secretaries or anything like that. Empty.

I tried calling the district office. I got an answer, but the girl had no idea what job opening I was talking about. She transferred me to human resources which sent me straight to voice mail. I left a message and called back. I needed to get the number for the principal's office like I did yesterday.

"Hi, I just called a second ago and was transferred to human resources. It just sent me to their voice mail. Do you have [principal I interviewed with] phone number?"

"Umm... No, I only have the school phone number."

"Oh, when I called the voice mail system yesterday it put me through to her actual office phone. Can I just do that?"

"Uh..." she sounded extremely hesitant. "Let me put you on hold for a sec."

I waited on hold for five minutes. She came back.

"All I have is her school phone number. What is this regarding?"

I explain my situation. "I just need to get a hold of this principal so I can ask about the job I interviewed for."

"Okay, what I can do is connect you to her directly. Can you hold for a sec?"

I held for a sec. It rang through about thirty times. I thought it might go to her voice mail again, at least, but it never did. Suddenly, a woman with a decidedly Mexican accent picked up.

"Hi, I'm trying to get a hold of [principal]? Is this...?"

"Jhoo know this is the district office? That principal gone. All school is close for summer."

"She's gone for the day? Is she ever coming back...?"

The woman laughs, "Well I shoo hope so sir, she a principal for middle school!"

"I just need to talk to her about an interview I had on Monday."

"She gone for summer vacation, sir. All school closed."

"I know, but I met with her on Monday about a job opening. Do you know the number for her office?"

"Jhoo know, you give me message and I send her e-mail. Then she call you back when she get e-mail."

"No, that's okay. I can e-mail her myself. I'm just trying to find out whether this job has been filled or not. Do you know anything about job openings?"

"Human resources, you talk to Patti."

"Yes, but is Patti in the office right now?"

"Yes."

"Okay, transfer me to her."

It was the same as before. Straight to voice mail. I left a message for "Patti" and sent an email to the principal. I simply asked if she could tell me when they would have a decision by. I just needed an estimate so I could get on my with life. So far, no answer.

Stay tuned for further developments. Isn't it exciting?!

Wednesday 4:22 PM
UPDATE:
I DIDN'T GET THE JOB!


Oh well. They never called me about this like they said they would, but they DID reply to one of my various e-mails. They said they went with someone with more experience, but that "We appreciated meeting with you."

Brilliant. I sure am happy they appreciated that meeting.