Changing Daily

Well things have changed once again! I will teaching science six periods a day and I also will be the gifted department chair. The MIX program will go on, we now have busing so the 262 children now in the program will have a ride to school. Mr. B will be the only returning teacher all the rest are new, I leave the rains in his hands. I decided to go with a secure position (Science), as further cuts are coming in October. I will be incorporating technology into my science classroom. 

For music educators it is really getting tough out there, its going to get worse before it gets better. There are layoffs and cut across the entire country. At this point it becomes a matter of survival, right now I’m happy to have a job. I have enjoyed being a music educator but I find at this time in my life I am ready for a change. I love music and being a musician. However, at this point in time having a job and a secure future has become more important. I wish you all luck!

Deb

Future Looks Bright

It appears I did something right with recruitment, as we are expecting our program to number around 260 students next year, that up around 90 students.  The program has really taken off and we now seeing the fruits of our hard labor.  We still have technology issues and our experiment with a PC lab has been tenuous, it just doesn’t work for what we do.  In our opinion the Mixcraft software just isn’t as user friendly nor is it as robust as garageband for the entry level 1 students.  We are trying to go back to total Mac labs, as we are suppose to get a technology refresh.  We need to upgrade 60 computers, that’s around $66,000, yikes!  It’s difficult to keep technology working and current in an environment where large budget cuts are a daily occurrence.  It seems are only true limit is the budget.  It appears the school district has all but wiped out any funding for next year.  Of course the national economy is not much better with talk and signs of recession, so private sector grants may dry up too.    Our goal this year is to find alternative ways to fund the program. I am sure many of you are in the same boat as we are.