Curt Baron's Retirement Speech
Posted
When I received the email letting me know I had two minutes to be up here, my first thought was, Finally! I’m going to ask for two minutes of silence in honour of me, but that seemed a bit self-serving.
So once reason took hold, I decided this old dog who is leaving would share with the young pups in the room some of the things I’ve learned about being in a school environment for the past 37, almost 38, years. Some of these things I learned intuitively; others I had to learn the hard way.
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Firstly, don’t bother sucking up to administration. Spend what energy you have sucking up to the admin assistant.
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"Lost and found" in a school is an oxymoron. It is NEVER found. It just keeps piling up, and piling up, and piling up.
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For the teachers in the crowd: when the admin says there isn’t any money, there is. You just aren’t asking for the right thing. Switch gears and keep on asking.
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On your first day in a new school, be the last to sit down at lunch in the staffroom, lest you sit in someone’s sacred chair. They will write you off forever.
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When you ask a student, “Why did you do that?” and they shrug their shoulders and say, “I don’t know,” they really don’t. They’re kids. Stop asking that question already.
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Although it is technically six letters, during recess, soccer is a four-letter word.
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To some students, a fire drill bell means: walk fast and furious, talk excessively, and line up like a cluster of grapes.
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Relish those cherished parent meetings when, after endless frustration with a student, you finally get to meet that apple’s tree. It’s epiphany time and explains everything.
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And finally, someday — maybe soon, maybe many years down the road — you will have the opportunity to stand on a stage something like this, on a night much like tonight, and reflect back on what your years in education have meant to you. Know that there is nothing nobler, more fulfilling, or rewarding than being an educator. I have loved my time in school. I cherish the opportunities I’ve been blessed to have: the camaraderie of fellow staff members, the leadership from administration, the partnership with parents, and most of all, the gift that children are. I have been truly blessed to have all of these in my life — and, most of all, to get paid for it to boot.