THE ONE WHERE WE WATCHED THE TOWERS FALL: 2001-2002: Wichita Public Schools: Funston 2-5 Library
2001-2002 School Year Photo. Almost everyone I knew cut their hair short after 9/11/01
Most teachers remember their 9/11/01 school day story. Here is mine. I would love to hear yours.
It was an ordinary September day that soon would become memorable. I dropped the boys off at Rex Elementary and arrived at school about 20 minutes before report time. I was getting ready for my day when Jeff Dohlman, our Art Teacher ran into the Library. He told me “Quick GET THE TV ON!” Our school had one TV that had cable and it was located in the library. We watched in horror and disbelief as the first of many terrorist attacks began taking place. My Principal Sonja Seeman made the decision to cancel my Library classes for the day so that the staff could have access to the one TV in the school which was in the Library.. It was a scary day. Because my classes were cancelled I used my time taking staff members cars across the street to Quicktrip to fill their cars with gas. As a parent of a first grader and a third grader I was terrified. Kim Lambdin was in the classroom next door and was told that she was not allowed to go to the base where her daughter was stationed for the birth of her first grandson. Because my classes had been cancelled I do not remember how this day affected our students. I do remember our school counselor bringing students into the library in small groups. She was praying with them.
By the year 2001 each of our classrooms now had one computer with an internet connection. On 9/11/01 I had to make an announcement on the intercom that the computers with internet in the classrooms were not to be used due to PORNOGRAPHY randomly appearing on almost all of them! In my 37 years as an Educator,this is the only time I remember our school computers getting attacked with pornography.
When I finally got home that evening it was eerily quiet outside. Our boys soccer practice had been cancelled so we went to our church to pray the rosary with many others.
I have been a sleep walker/talker my entire life. My husband Brad and my sister Michelle can tell you some funny stories. 9/11/01 brought my scariest sleepwalking incident ever. I ended up outside on our front porch in the middle of the night. I think it was the fear/stress of the day, I have never had a sleep walking incident like that again. It did prompt me to have Brad install a lock on our bedroom door. I’ve locked it every night ever since.
A few weeks after 9/11/01 we said goodbye to our good friends the Butlers as they moved to Iowa. I was lucky to find Wanda Dunn to fill in as our daycare.
Life eventually returned to normal but something mysterious occurred at our school in the winter. I can not remember the date and still do not know what the circumstances were, but our Principal left our building. Her replacement was Anne Clemmens who had been an Assistant Principal at another building. I liked her but did not like it when she told me to prepare for the use of a block schedule for the upcoming school year. It was the type of schedule her previous school had used. My days of flexible Library scheduling in the Library would be officially over. I am happy for the years I got to be more than a “plan break” for the classroom teachers that I worked with.
Brad's position at Project Bridge began in 1990. It was a great job for him in the beginning but the last two years he and another staff member were Administrators. Those two years that Brad did Administration allowed me to see my Administrators in a new light. Their job is not easy! In the spring of 2001 he and his staff were told that the school would be closing. A few calls were made on his behalf and he was offered (without interviewing!) a School Psychologist position in the Haysville Public Schools. Brad was happy to be stepping down from Administration and returning to School Psychology.
Because we would no longer have a daycare expense we figured it would be a good time for me to cut to a 4 day a week position and begin my Masters degree. My Principal agreed and with the new block schedule it was feasible for me to see all of my library classes in four days. I often regret that I chose the M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from Wichita State University over the MLS from Emporia State University.The MLS would have allowed me to become a Librarian outside of a school setting. I made my choice based on the fact that ESU wanted me to retake several of the Library Media Classes I had already taken. I did LOVE my cataloging class that I had taken at WSU but not enough to retake it from ESU. That is the thing about graduate hours: they “expire” towards a degree in a shorter amount of time than undergraduate hours. I spent the summer of 2002 taking some of the electives that would be a part of my program. I also took extra classes because doing so would “bump” me horizontally on the pay scale to Masters + 40 upon the completion of my M.Ed.
While in those early classes for my M.Ed. a fantastic job opened in USD 259: Library Media Specialist Campus Support. I didn’t apply because I felt like it would be too much on top of my M.Ed.program. Besides, it seemed that most of the central office Library jobs went to those with MLS degrees instead of M.Ed.degrees. I like to think that I would have made a GREAT Campus Support Library Media Specialist. I told myself I would apply the next time the position opened.
Look for my next blog entry on 12/4/21 entitled THE ONE WHERE WE NO LONGER NEEDED DAY CARE 2002-2003:* Wichita Public Schools: Funston 2-5, White PreK-1 Library
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