I have worked with a handful of teachers over the years. One evolved from junior high teaching into fiction writing for young adults, another became a consultant to school districts, another, a reading specialist with a private practice, another, a teacher-trainer for a large school district, and one other went to work for an educational software company.
There are so many other things a teacher can do besides teach, if he or she wants to, but I’m afraid too many of them just don’t believe it, so they stay. It’s a demanding, difficult job at best, but debilitating if your heart’s not in it.
Happily that is not the case with Nat. It’s not that she doesn’t love teaching–she does! She has given it her all for 20 years. In addition to classroom teaching, she has headed departments, started special programs, raised money for schools, developed innovative curricula, been a principal, worked for the district to have an impact on the whole school system, and so many other things that I’ve lost track.
Nat loves her students. Really. She keeps in touch with them over the years and they keep in touch with her. She is always in their corner. She has been invited to many college graduations for kids she had in grammar school. She loves to be there when certain very special students cross the stage. The kids’ parents even love her over the years, and many of them are her closest friends. She has no shortage of friends, you might imagine.
And… she’s had it. She’s frustrated most of the time because of the way schools don’t work, how there’s no money for anything, and that the answer to almost every idea she has is no. She just can’t do it anymore. She has already done it all! Life is spinning away and she wants to find out who else she can be. She’s not going back next year.
In our work together, we are out of the angst now and into the action of making some very exciting things happen. We have about six separate plates spinning in the air right now, and three of them are getting ready to land. I’ll let you know what they are in due time.
There’s no doubt that this teacher is finding her way to a fuller, deeper, richer, more satisfying future than she ever thought possible. She has found a way to incorporate many of the things she loves the most: kids, parents, education, entertainment, travel and food. And she’s going to make money doing it! I’ll tell you more once the plan has hatched.
Our dear Bonnie Bonetti-Bell was the force behind our Career/Life Coaching services, until her passing in 2019. As a principal of our firm, Bonnie had an innate talent for seeing the best in people. Moreover, she helped others see the best in themselves. Bonnie is fondly remembered and deeply missed.