today was "ALL MASTERY DAY", the first day for all staff in the Mastery organization when we come together to hear about our past successes and future endeavors in educating the students who come through our schools. before Lenfest's staff joined the 800 or so other Mastery Charterites, we started at our own campus for a brief presentation about last years progress towards the goals we set out right around this time last year. it seems our campus did VERY well! we hit/excelled in 21/24 of our goals making significant gains from the prior year to this year. excellent job. i think much of that had to do with the fact that we retained all but one of our teachers from the year prior. we were basically teaching with the same staff. the kids knew the flow. the teachers knew the flow....i'm loving the flow because goals hit= BONUS! oh yes...gotta love it.
$1232.00. ok ok. i know it may not seem like a lot (especially after uncle sam gets his...right?) but that an extra something that can go towards wedding expenses and can be sown back. i'm grateful that on the last year of the bonuses, we went out with a bang. wooooo hoooo.
anyway, we sat there for a few hours and drank the koolaid (figuratively and well...literally). we heard the startling statistics about the new students we're taking on at cleveland elementary, the feeder school for Simon Gratz in the Nicetown section of Philly. there is certainly an urgent need for quality and passionate educators in this city and across the country. i value what Mastery is doing for students on a daily basis....quiet as it's kept, i don't care too much around the politics about school choice...school reform...education policy....public vs. charter....it's nice to know that there are kids out there getting an education and that folks have put their heads to trying to solve the problem. i'd rather be on the side that's solutions-oriented. yes, public education is a mess. who's trying to fix it and who REALLY has the students' best interests in mind? with that being said, teaching is indeed a thankless job. we will never get the glory or the limelight. we will never get the immediate gratification and we probably will never get the super large salary. you have to be in it for a different reason. for a deeper sense of satisfaction.
i experience that deeper sense from time to time. i'm not really passionate about education anymore. i like the kids. that's really the only thing that has me holding on right now. it's not my time to leave. i tried to leave lenfest last year for another position and it didn't really work out....soooooooo here i am, year three at lenfest....year five in the teaching profession. as i prayed this morning, i kept saying (as i have been saying to myself) that the present sufferings of this world cannot compare to the future glory which is going to be revealed in me. because lets be honest here....and i'm not trying to be deep or spiritual or religious...my job is not one that i am 100% passionate about. however, i know there's a reason why i'm there and i find comfort in knowing that as long as i'm seeking Him first and His righteousness, everything else that i need will be added unto me. He knows the desires of my heart....so what i'm doing now is truly not to please me, but to please Him. point, blank, period.
so i enter my fifth school year....boldly and cautiously. is that even possible. i'm bold about the fact that i know i'm a pretty good teacher. i'm cautious about all of those sins that do so easily beset me and ensnare me in gossip, faintheartedness, impatience. i know the testing of my faith is producing perseverance...much patience....thus, as i go through this experience as a teacher, i must count it ALL joy....even when i feel like biting myself (and yes, lets not fake...i do have those days...again...not trying to be deep...just keeping it real).
so i pray that patience have its perfect work so that i be mature and not lack anything.
this morning, when i prayed, i interceded for the leaders in my church. bishop...pastor imani...senior leaders...pastors, elders, deacons....i prayed that they continue in the faith...that the stay strong...i prayed for their strength....so much work to do...i prayed that they not be weary but that each member do their part in the body to get the work done...at the end of the day...the work manifests itself into souls saved....if we don't do the work, the souls are at stake...and so i prayed that the souls be saved. i began to cry for the leaders because i felt their burden...i felt the weight the had to pick up when others failed to do their part...and so i prayed that their strength be renewed...yesterday, i even prayed for Pastor Mildred....for we truly don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities...where there is dysfunction is due to the works of the enemy...deception...habits...lie based thinking....whatever is coming against her must be bound and something from God must be loosed....
anyway....
after all mastery day, i decided to head over the the happy hour where they had free food. of course i didn't go for the drinks. thus, after i'd had my fill of coconut shrimp, cheese sticks, and chicken fingers, i sat down by the front door for a little peace and quiet while everyone else got their drink on. of course, who do i see but Pastor Anthony Brothers walking through the door in a tank top, camouflage shorts, socks, and flip flops with a bucket and some sort of cleaning tool. he told me that the bar was one of his cleaning accounts and that he owns a "green" cleaning business. WOW. i thanked him for preaching a couple of sunday's before holy convocation and how i marveled that every time a pastor takes the pulpit, whether it be from our church or a branch church, male or female, it's all the same message. he proceeded to talk to me for about 20 minutes, exhorting me to stay under Bishop and honor him because he creates leaders. he told me that he was Bishop's adjutant (sp?) for 15 years and that he and Bishop walked together alone for about 3 years...that Bishop trained him...he told me to stick with Bishop because he makes good husbands...that when he came to the ministry, he wasn't loving his wife appropriately and he showed him how to do it...he said bottom line, people do what they see you do, not what they hear you say. he gave the example of him, dressed the way he was, cleaning a bar...he says he owns a company that pays about 20 employees and he still goes out and cleans...does the dirty work and his employees respect him for that. it's about humility. he told me about leaders who have gone out...he's seen them lately and just asks why they wont go back and allow bishop to complete the work that God started in them....people who thought that being under Bishop was stifling their gift...that they felt they were ready to go out instead of being sent out....
the end of our conversation: stick with Bishop. that's where you're supposed to be. he raises up leaders.
all in all...it was a good day. i'm tired. missed my afternoon nap. my body will get adjusted. i have to wake up earlier for my 1 hour morning prayer/devotion.
God, i thank you for today. looking forward to tomorrow.
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