06 August 2011

Another year

Having an awesome summer with family and friends. While it hasn't been entirely relaxing, it's been a great time to rejuvenate.

We are getting ready to start another year at Atala. We are starting the year with more children than we started last year, and we're expanding up to 7th grade. The toddler room only has one space left! I've met some wonderful parents and gotten to see our first class of Atala kindergarten students graduate into elementary school. Livya was among those children--I am so proud of her!

It was a year of firsts, which was awesome and tiring all rolled into one. This year we can work towards perfecting some events, and adding new ones. We are going to do the Chili Cook Off again in the fall. And in the spring we're adding a Renaissance Faire. I've spent the latter part of the summer honing my recorder skills and will play in a Renaissance consort as part of the entertainment. Can't wait!

In the meanwhile, I enjoy scanning articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Universities and colleges live in a bubble and it seems to be catching up a bit, at least with a few. So much corruption--padding enrollment to receive additional funding from the state, charging students for services they never received, plummeting admission standards to try to fill seats. Tenure is fast becoming a thing of the past, which is a good thing in my opinion. Why guarantee someone a job for life? Shouldn't you have to earn your job and work to keep it?

Spread your wings!