What Jobs?
Today’s JetPack prompt was:
What jobs have you had?
Teacher – 24 years – loved every minute!
1961, Stockton, CA – 1st grade
1962, Germany, Wurzburg Army Base – 1st grade
1963-64, Turlock, Cunningham School – kindergarten
1964-67, Daly City, CA – K, 4th, 7th-8th
1968- 79, Hillsborough, CA – 7th/8th, K, 4th, K-6 summer school
1979-81, Hughson, CA – 1st grade & GATE classes
1982- 99, Ceres, CA – 4th grade, principal (K-8), then…
This is Lorei with me.
She was my first grade student in 1961
when I first started teaching in Stockton
before Bob & I were married.
Like so many of the students
who came after her,
my life is richer because
she has stayed connected all these years.
Teaching is not just a job.
It is a life choice, a passion, a joy!
Some of these dear kindergarteners are my Facebook friends today.
Reach out Ortners, Leslie, Pamela Pon (where are you?), Sean, Kurt, Karen…
You’re all in my heart!
… then, yes, after years in the classroom,
I spent 9 years as a Principal – – – had wonderful colleagues —
The Ceres Unified School District
was a delightful place to work.
I have so many fond memories!
This was a great staff!!
I was invited to try my hand at
working as a mentor to new principals
and as the coordinator for various programs
such as art, new teacher training,
federal and state programs, etc.
So, I went to the district office
as a curriculum coordinator.
It was too far away from the children!
I returned to my first love: the classroom.
I had these little second graders
I picture below here for two years
(as 1st & 2nd graders)…
it was a wonderful way to end a delightful career.
Recognition for a job well done
came in many forms,
but the best is knowing
I made a difference
in the lives of a few children
and maybe helped some of my colleagues
along the way, too.
I enjoyed my life as an educator immensely.
I retired in 1999, but didn’t stop working.
I supervised student teachers for a few years
at Stanislaus State College
before volunteering
for a couple of years
to teach illiterate adults how to read.
Loved doing that! So rewarding!!
But the most important of my “jobs” in my lifetime was:
… wife, mom, homemaker, sister, friend …
Never underestimate the impact
& importance of those jobs!
Take them seriously.
Some people say that there –
-on the home front-
there lies the most important
job of all!!
That photo is the whole Beekman clan
at Bob’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
I love this photo …
our daughter, DeAna, and her “Swisster” Sylviane,
and our son, Ty, are on the right of this picture next to us.
So, this had to have been around 1984…
And now, volunteering is part of my life …
and those jobs I choose,
like the Senior Center
or the Food Bank,
the Manor (our local nursing home)
or church fellowship hour,
those “jobs”
are what continue to give me
a sense of purpose.
We never stop having jobs – right?
John 6:27
27 Do not work for food that spoils,
but for food that endures to eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him God the Father
has placed his seal of approval.”
What jobs have you had?
