I have to take a leave of absence for about a month until my sister gets better and can take care of herself.  I sure hope they are able to get a good substitute for me while I’m gone.  I know the children will have a hard time adjusting to me when I come back but it just can’t be helped.  Family has to come first sometimes.

I have high hopes for this coming school year.  I just learned that our school system, system wide met 89% of our educational goals last year.  That was a rise of over 24% from the prior year.  Wonderful.  That means that we have done a much better job of teaching our children and future leaders.  That’s what every teacher wants to know, that they have made a difference and have done a good job educating our children.

People think it’s easy to be a teacher with all the workdays we have and the summer off on top of that.  Well when there is a teacher work day, that’s what we are doing, working to find better ways to reach the children in the most need.  On our summers off, most of us are attending classes or workshops or both to learn better techniques to teach your children.  So the next time you want to complain about a teacher work day being an inconvenience to you, think of that and you might appreciate the hard work educators do for your family.

My sister had been checking into franchise opportunities before she was involved in the accident.  She was on her way to talk to who ever it was that she was supposed to meet about the opportunity.  Now I have to learn more about it so that I can maybe help her get started with a new franchise.  I’m not sure what the venture was but I’ll learn what ever it is I need to learn.

As an educator, I am usually keeping up on whatever I may need to help myself be better at my job.  I also like to take some courses that are basically just for me or my own pleasure like art classes or other type craft classes.  Keeping my mind busy and learning is important to keeping alive in more than one sense of the word.  As long as I am learning, I am reaching and growing as a person and that’s important to me too.  One problem is I have been growing around the middle if you catch what I’m saying.  I have put on a few pounds the past couple of years and really want to stay healthy and active.  After all, I may be a grandmother but that doesn’t mean I have to act like one, now does it?

I found an online course that I signed up for and this one is not just for me.  I signed up for classed to become a personal trainer and get my ISSA Personal Training Certifications. The International Sports Sciences Association has been around for 20 years.  They still provide continuing education and certification training.  The list of alumni is pretty darn impressive too.

I used to take aerobics classes and worked with the weight machines a lot when I was younger and always wanted to be a personal trainer but chasing around three boys took most of my time.  I figured I could learn what would be best for me at my age and health level and even maybe take on a part time job as a personal trainer. As an educator, I have my summers off so this could be something I could easily do in the summer or a couple nights a week. I enjoy helping others and what better way to help others than to help them learn how to be healthier by becoming physically fit?

Where did this summer go?  I swear it seems like just yesterday school got out and now the kids are out buying school supplies and getting ready to go back to school.  I’m not so sure I’m ready for all that.  Oh well, ready or not, here it comes.