No substitute for having my cake 
and eating it, too

   I've had this dilemma all my life. I want a paycheck, but I don't want a job. But I discovered that substitute teaching a few days a week is pretty close to having it both ways.

   So when Nesbit Elementary School asked me to be a long term ESOL sub, I thought it might be too much like a real job. Did I really want to do this?

   When I realized I'd be working with my old friend June Branen, I figured I could stand it. And besides, I should get at least one column out of it.

   On my first day, I got the old-fashioned mom-and-pop treatment from secretary Barbara Fancher and her husband Paul, who is head custodian. They both made me feel like a "real teacher." Nesbit's teacher of the year, Meg Beutal introduced herself and told me if I needed any help to just ask.

   Worked in with this warm welcome was a whole new phase of technology that didn't exist when I last worked in a Gwinnett school. The first week I wanted a few yards of border paper. I knew there must be some in a nook or cranny somewhere, but how would I find it?

   "Just e-mail the whole faculty and someone will put it in your mailbox," June said.

   While working with first grade teacher Jenny LaBell, we had the kids make Jack-o-lanterns. As they scooped out seeds, I said I wished I had my camera. 

   "Oh," said Jenny. "I'll take pictures with my cell phone and e-mail them to myself." From there she could e-mail them to parents or make printouts to send home with the kids.

   Nesbit boasts a highly diverse student body, but I'm more impressed with the diversity of teachers. Not for their ethnicity, but for their life experiences. 

   P.E. teacher Sean Coffey spent seven years in the Marines and was an electrician. Science teacher Sky Jensen is a DJ and runs his own non-profit Link Production Company to promote local musicians. (Info www.abstractlogicrecordings.com  ) Kindergarten teacher Rita Hetzel was a professional musician who played at yacht clubs and art museums. Fifth Grade teacher James McIlvane was a historian for the National Parks Service and a newspaper editor. And Fifth Grade teacher Dennis Matas did everything from working on the railroad to rough necking on oilrigs.

   And then there's Ujagar Bhatia, a kindergarten para-professional. "When kids see my turban, they think I'm a magician or a fortuneteller," he said. "I retired as an engineer in India where I also worked for the ministry of defense. I love kids, but I'm mainly a mathematics person. So I figure this is a job I will love until I am seventy."

   Working with all these wonderful people makes me feel like I finally got my wish. I have a paycheck, AND I'm having so much fun I feel like I don't have a job.

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