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SCHOOL’S OUT AND SUMMER’S HERE

Time to rest and relax, rejuvenate and regroup, revive and replenish. Take a moment to read how your fellow TCTA members will spend the summer, and enjoy your well-deserved break.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Part of my summer will be spent enriching my mind and energizing my soul. This summer I will attend a Reading and Writing Institute at Columbia University in New York. It will mean time away from my family. I will give up sleeping-in, something I enjoy doing in the summer. I will probably spend my savings and go into debt - all in the name of acquiring research and practices that will enhance my teaching and most importantly help my students. My summer will consist of listening to lectures and attending sessions given by published authors and educators who have the same passion as I do. I will embrace the opportunity to learn from others. And as I walk through Columbia’s campus, I will appreciate its beauty.

At the end of classes, however tired I may be, I will muster enough energy to enjoy NYC and all it has to offer. The city will be explored! Times Square, the museums and Central Park are all “must-sees.” I’ll have the best of both worlds; enriching my mind and exploring NYC.


Janie Rodriguez
Writing support teacher
Valley Hi Elementary School
Northside CTA, San Antonio

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RETREAT
My husband has recently retired and our plans include leaving immediately after school is out to go to Colorado for the entire summer. The Texas heat has gotten to be too much for us, and we have always wanted to go to Colorado for the summer. Now that he has retired, we can do this. I don’t have to be back on my campus until Aug. 14. We are so excited about seeing Colorado. We plan to rent a small place for two months. We always have felt that you truly cannot experience a place unless you live there for awhile.


Brenda Black
English teacher
Livingston High School
Livingston CTA

PARENTHOOD: PART II
After eight years of thinking we couldn’t get pregnant, I am blessed to say this summer we’ll be having a baby! We will also be celebrating my husband’s graduation in May, when he will earn his bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate.

When we got married in 2001, I became a second mom to three amazing kids – Britany, Taylor and Marissa. We always dreamed of having kids of our own so we came up with a plan. WELL...as time went by the only thing that didn’t happen was the baby! After consulting with doctors and coming up with no answers, we made peace with God’s plan for us not to have a child together.

We made new dreams, which included enjoying every other weekend to ourselves when the kids were gone, having date nights and dancing. We never expected what happened next, and were both shocked and scared to learn I WAS PREGNANT! My husband expressed his concerns in a number of ways, “I’m going to be 40 next week! I’ll be 60 by the time the kid graduates! I’ve already raised three kids! I’m not ready to be a new dad again! I’m starting all over again!” But gradually we became more peaceful with the situation and decided to tackle this new turn in our lives and make the best of it! Jax Lincoln Farnkoff is due May 30th and we are ecstatic!


Tabitha Farnkoff
Grades 4-5 resource math teacher
Travis Elementary School
Mineral Wells CTA

THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP
After months of scheduling, saving, researching and planning, I will be climbing into a Toyota van with three longtime friends to head to Ontario, Canada, where we will take a ride on the Maid of the Mist for an up-close look at Niagara Falls. Then on to Edgewater, New Jersey where we will ferry to New York to tour the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Broadway.

From there we head on to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for a buggy ride through the Amish countryside before spending the night at the Fulton Steamboat Inn and dining at Huckleberry’s Restaurant. Next stop is Washington, D. C., where we plan to visit the White House, Capitol Building, Vietnam Memorial, National Cathedral and Arlington Cemetery, just to name a few. Then on to Nashville for a little country music at the Grand Ole Opry and a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame. As we head for home, we’ll make one last stop in Memphis to tour Elvis’ Graceland.


Mary Jane Zatopek
Special education teacher
Cimarron Elementary School
Galena Park CTA

SUMMER LULL NOT ON THE AGENDA
Wow! I cannot believe this school year is nearly over. I plan to teach summer school for the month of June, since I am still conditioned to getting up early in the morning. During this month, I will also attend the SBEC meeting in Austin and a surprise 50th birthday party in Los Angeles.


In July, I will attend two family reunions, one in Dallas and another in Opelousas, LA. I will also travel to Austin for the 2010 TCTA Leadership Safari Conference, and will take an exciting excursion in Costa Rica. Within three days of my return, I will depart for New Orleans for the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Convention.

After traveling and relaxing, I will be ready to greet my students for the new school year.

Janie Baszile
6th grade resource math teacher
Cobb Sixth Grade Campus
Galena Park CTA

A TRIBUTE TO AUBREY: LOVE, MOM
My husband and I recently lost our young daughter, Aubrey, in a car accident caused by another driver. She was a 5th grader this year – her first year on the same campus where my husband and I both teach. Looking back, we were truly blessed for the extra time that we got to spend with her each day and for the experiences that we were able to share with her – like her first middle school pep rally and the “student vs. teacher” fundraiser volleyball game (after which, she drew a very cute picture of me on the court!).


Since the accident, our coworkers have been extremely supportive. They continue to lift us up, every day, with hugs, smiles, and kind words of encouragement, but they are also there to cry with us when needed. The truth is, though, that we are looking forward to some time away -- some physical and emotional distance from wonderful, yet (right now) painful memories.


Aubrey, with her sweet, sweet spirit loved her family completely and unconditionally (a lesson we are learning from) and was an amazing daughter and “sissy.” So our beautiful angel has given us a gift -- a renewed focus on family. What are we going to do on our summer vacation? We are going to take her little brother to visit family (many of whom he’ll be meeting for the first time) across the country, enjoying precious time with those we have missed for so long...We love and miss you, Auboo!


Allison Mullinax
Special education teacher
Memorial Middle School
Winnsboro CTA

GIRLTIME GETAWAY
This summer I plan to spend four “girls only” days at an adorable ranch house in Round Top with my sister and several friends. We’re all involved in education - as current or former teachers or as students seeking teacher certification. We will be celebrating two 40th birthdays while we share crazy stories from our classrooms over good food and drinks all around the pool.


Kara Martin
Kindergarten teacher
Robinson Primary School
Robinson CTA

Posted: 06/10/10