Northrop News 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

Sometimes when I was home with the kids and the arsenic hours (4 pm – 7 pm) would hit, I would grit my teeth and say, “It’s almost bed time. Patience. You will get through this.”  Those were challenging times. And tedious.  And sometimes I still miss it. Not the arsenic hours, because those still happen, but the simplicity of the needs and wants and the to-do list. As the kids get older, it gets easier and harder at the same time. Back then, the days were sometimes long, but time was short. Even now with a teenager and two pre-teens, this rings true.

Gabe - 13

When he comes to breakfast each day, I swear he’s grown. One day everything was fine. The next day, he’s my height and says “good morning” in this deep voice. Holy Cow, literally overnight, my son is growing into a young man! G is in 7th grade and I see him pass me in the hallways at the middle school, where he looks at me out of the corner of his eye or sometimes asks me for food. He is a good friend to others and loves to read. Last winter he played basketball, coached by his dad, went to track and field camp, and played football this past fall. He is patient with his sometimes intense athletics minded parents. Gabe also takes piano lessons, is a percussionist in the band, is a talented artist, and earned a first place in the MN DNR Duck Stamp contest. Gabe got his first deer, a really cool buck, on our land this fall while hunting with Matt.

Ben - 11

Benjamin will always be an “I love you/I don’t love you” kind of kid. He has a deep ability to care for others, while still daily annoying his sister and challenging. He is creative in a messy, dragon, 3D sort of way. He has a way with pop up books, stop motion videos, and enjoys drawing mutants to add to his collection. Ben loves “playing guys” and setting up elaborate scenes for weeks at a time. He enjoyed playing Champion Basketball last winter, but says baseball is his favorite sport, although this summer we had to have the conversation about NOT waving to us from the field. He loves to read character guides and recently started reading the Harry Potter series. Ben takes piano lessons and started percussion this year.  He is at the middle school this year, so I get to see him every day. He is NOT embarrassed to hug me in front of his friends. Yet.

                                                                                                                    

Lyndee – almost  10

We understand more and more what it will be like with a pre-teen to teen girl in the house. We think there’s trouble to come. She is fierce and intense and a perfectionist. Lyndee was very upset to receive an S+ in PE last year, as she knows she “should have had and O!” She loves her daddy and her brothers and still always wants to be with me. Lyndee loves to read and play stuffed animals and write songs for her and Ben’s stuffed animal band called “Animal Jam.” Lyndee will be playing 4th grade traveling BB coached by Mom this January and February, and was again forced to do track and field camp this summer. She got 3rd place in the MN DNR Duck Stamp contest this spring.  

Matt

In his third year teaching at Century High School, Matt has been challenged as he and his colleagues revamped the entire HS PE curriculum to ensure students are geared for more career and college. His favorite class is called “Individual Movement.” He has learned yoga, Pilates, and other ways to inspire his students. I am so proud of the work that he does and the great role model he is to the young adults with whom he interacts. As a Pine Island Track and Field coach for 20 years, Matt led a team of athletes last spring to 4th place in the State True Team Meet, and 2nd place in the MSHSL State Meet in June.  One relay team and two individuals earned state championships and several school records were set. In addition to coaching, he loves the woods and hunting. He still liked his shot gun season this year, but was unable to bow hunt due to his torn bicep from track practice this past spring. He joked that he “gave his left arm” for his team.    

       

Amy

Just like last year, my house is messy and sometimes we eat cereal for dinner. I remind myself when I am emptying the dishwasher (which apparently has a force field around it that only I can penetrate) or folding laundry that I am grateful that it is ME that can do this for my family. Like last year, love and not perfection drives what I do. I am often late (okay, almost always), and always busy. I choose it. Busy is not a distraction from my life, it is just simply the way we live our life. I am grateful for my kids and their conversations, imagination, and humor. I am grateful that my husband of almost 21 years is patient with me and supportive of the things I am passionate about. I am grateful that my job teaching 6th graders fulfills me, challenges me, and gives me purpose. I love going to work every day where I get to teach with my friends! I coached Cross Country this fall for the 9th year and enjoyed each minute. And, I assisted Matt with the track and field team and cried when the season was over. Our passions sometimes take over our lives and our hearts and I hope that our children see that passion and are inspired by it someday.

Family

In April, My mom, Lyndee, and I flew to New York for Heidi’s Inauguration as President of the College at Brockport.  What a thrill to witness that accomplishment surrounded by my whole extended family including aunts and uncles from both sides!  We hosted almost all of Matt’s family at our house at the end of July when Chris, Bree, and Kids, Matt’s parents, Grandma Lois, and Courtney, Scott, and their 6 little ones descended on Mount Northrop. The morning they left, my sister Jill, and her family came to visit! Laughter and tears abounded througout both visits. Our summer concluded when we adventured out to CA for and spent 10 glorious days with Seth, Kaela, Ainsley and Cadence.  Our kids experienced San Francisco, Muir Woods, whale watching in Monterey, Yosemite, Sequoia National Park, Fresno, the Pacific Coast Highway, and the Redwood National Forest. And what did they like best? Hanging out at Seth and Kaela’s house with their cousins. Sigh…..

Pets

Here’s the rundown–Dash - Great Pyrenees/Golden doodle - 5 years old STILL with a wanderlust and a short attention span. He’s sweet and always hungry. Tucker – Golden Retriever - 4 years old with a devious streak. He loves to play ball, but will never give it up, so it’s pretty much one throw and done. Mia-Ben’s tortoise is alive and well. Wrigley – yellow lab – age unknown. He is still a lovely boy with a habit of barking at any noise outside and whining when we are in his spot on the couch. He searches at the end of the night to find the most comfortable bed. Maybe we should call him Goldilab instead.  And, even though I said I would never get a cat, Toonces has wandered into our lives.  May he continue to be the best garage mouser and mole catcher ever.

Peace to you. May your homes and lives be messy. May we worry less about being perfect and instead be real and present in our own lives.

Love,

Matt & Amy

Gabe, Ben, and Lyndee

Dash, Tucker, Wrigley, Mia, and Toonces

Carrying On in the Path of an Ordinary Life - The Path to Teaching

I used to think that I needed to be extraordinary. When I was young, I thought I might be an oceanographer (even though I had never seen the ocean), or an archaeologist (even though I had never seen any bones), or a broadcast journalist (even though I was terrible on camera), or....bear with me....a cocktail waitress. I wanted to be many things, but mostly I did NOT want to be ordinary.

Throughout high school, I was the small town do it all kind of kid - sports, drama, music - even photo club (though I never took any pictures.)

I did NOT want to be ordinary. I went to college and became one in a sea of valedictorians, athletes, and actors. I still wanted to pursue broadcast journalism and theatre. I soon found myself to be.....very ordinary. I didn't fit in with the "theatre folk," as they called themselves. I loved my BB team, but wasn't quite in the upper echelon that I aspired to be. I enjoyed my classes, but couldn't find my niche.

All my life, I had desired to leave my small town life with my mail carrier dad and my educator mom and be something GREAT!

And so, I came home after my freshman year, taught swimming lessons and became somewhat confused. I liked teaching kids. I was good at it. The kids responded to me. I did NOT want to be a teacher. I did NOT want to be ORDINARY.

So, I returned to college. I continued in my Speech Communication Theatre Arts track, and I continued to feel out of place. Finally....I stopped trying to be rich, famous and extraordinary. I decided to be.....extraordinarily ordinary.

I met with my adviser, switched my major to elementary education with a coaching endorsement and carried on.

This is not to say that there has not been doubt and disappointment along the way. I enjoyed my practicums (except kindergarten) and was challenged by my student teaching and fell in love with coaching.

But, I truly thought I would teach and coach for a few years and then....do something extraordinary. I really have no idea what I thought I might do. Teach at the college level? Perhaps. But, really, I don't know what else I would do. When you earn a degree in business, the whole world of business is open to you. When you earn a degree in education, it can be somewhat....well...narrow.

What ended up happening is that I applied for and was accepted into a graduate fellowship program through Winona State University and Rochester Public Schools. I taught for one year, took grad classes at the same time and earned my MS degree and a year of experience.

My first year of teaching was HARD. Harder than I ever imagined it would be. Harder, I think, than some of my cohorts in the fellowship program. I don't think I was ill prepared, just incredibly idealistic and placed in a less than desirable situation. The school I was in had not planned on a fellow. So, I ended up with some really, really, really, challenging students.

After the first day of school, all of my cohorts were gushing about what an awesome experience it had been and how they just KNEW this was where they were supposed to be. I went home and called my mom and cried about how awful it was.

The year progressed and in October I was in a fairly severe car accident where I broke my pelvis and had an injury to my neck which required crutches and 6 weeks in a hard cervical collar. Not an ideal way to begin a teaching career...especially with a challenging class.

Still, I persevered. And, looking back, I dared to do things in that first year that I never attempted again. I did things and attempted thing because I didn't know any better. Or maybe because I did know better, but did it anyway. I finished my year, was granted an interview with Rochester, was not hired and carried on.

I applied all over the place...Nebraska, Iowa, Washington State, Texas, all over the metro area...literally, for every position I could find. I had one interview in Worthington, Minnesota. It was a great interview and I learned a lot. When I didn't get the job, I especially learned that Worthington was not where I needed to continue my career.

August arrived. My lease was almost up. Matt and I decided that I would continue to teach, but in a subbing positions and keep looking for a permanent position. On August 20th, a former teacher and coach of mine pulled some strings and got me an interview...in an EBD Day Treatment just up the road. Wow. Really? Could I do it? Well, even if I didn't think I could, I interviewed like it would be a cake walk.

August 21st I was hired. I signed my first teaching contract and carried on. For three years I taught at the day treatment in the middle of a corn field. I endured insults from students, physical pain from students, wonderful connections with students and staff, an incredible growth in knowledge and perspective, and experienced joy in unknown and unexpected situations. I took graduate classes to get my Special Education provisional license, got married, and started coaching in Pine Island, a nearby town.

Junior High Track and Field, Junior High Basketball...every day I would leave my teaching job and head south to connect with student athletes, albeit junior high boy student athletes. By this time, Matt had begun a full time teaching position in Rochester and also been hired to coach in Pine Island. In the spring of my second year of coaching, a teaching position opened up. The elementary principal's wife had worked closely with my mom and I had a second connection which secured me an interview.

Interviewing again, I carried on and was hired. That fall, I started teaching third grade and realized just how much the needs of my day treatment students had weighed on me. Those years in the day treatment continued to serve me well with the experiences of dealing with difficult students, students with lots of baggage, parents who need help and/or perspective, and knowing when and how to communicate the needs of special education or potential special education students to other teachers and to parents.

The path of my teaching career could be repeated with many, many educators I know. But, my path is mine alone. It is ordinary to many, crazy to some, but extraordinary? Hardly. I often think about going back to my supposed five year high school reunion. Some friends said, "Amy, you could have been anything, making tons of money, going places...and you're what?! A teacher?!"

Like being a teacher is ordinary? After one year in Rochester, three years in a day treatment, eight years in 3rd grade, one year in 2nd grade, and seven years in 6th grade, I think it is safe to say that teaching is anything but ordinary. In fact, I love my job more than most. And I think that that is extraordinary.