Challeges That Make You Grow...

The past few months have been filled with challenges and growth. At times I didn’t think I was going to make it through and other times I knew it was a blessing in disguise.

On January 7th 2011 I was hit with a career changing issue which caused my "forced" resignation from Bedford High School on January 14th. I loved my interaction with students, parents and some of the staff. I was hired at BHS before it opened in 2007. I had started a lot of the programs, events, and website at the high school. In my 3.5 years there I had 4 different bosses/principals that in itself is challenging because they were all so different in how things were done. I adapted very well, I was the information hub for the school. If something was going on I knew about it, staff or even administration had questions they came to me. I bonded with a lot of the parents and students there. Many of the students I was drawn to were very much like me in high school and needed some guidance or just to know that someone cared about them. Because the school was so new, the district didn’t realize they needed some extra help in the main office for 1300 students, each day was a challenge to keep up and remain on my "A" game. I gave so much time to the district and understood why I could not be paid what others in my position were getting paid. In my years there we were never told what our jobs/responsibilities were. If something needed to be done or if someone refused to do something I would take care of it and then that job would stick. Many times I would take care of something and ask administration for help and they would say yes to my face and then drop the ball so my time was wasted. It was hard to see many situations of double standards depending on who you were not only as staff but students as well. Don’t get me started on that...

So on the 7th of January I found out who was in my corner and who was going to stab me in the back. That meeting was very eye opening. Here I was "friends" with these colleagues and they threw me under the bus and even back over me. To this day I still don't know why, and I won’t because they have been told not to have contact with me. WTF did I do? I even went to the Superintendent and he told me nothing but that I resigned and that was that... I was backed into a corner with my union rep not helping or saying a word, and she gave her notes to the SAU and the principal, total conflict of interest. Oh, and to find out she got a job a week later in the human resourse at the SAU, no wonder she didn't say anything, it may of costed her a possible job with them. Glad I paid into the union... NOT!

January 14th I was forced to resign from BHS... I was floored! Never in all my years had I been through anything like this. As I packed up my desk the principal watched me which was so humiliating. I was handed a bill for $185.00 for what they had paid me already for the week, ya I dont think so... When I turned to leave I did say, “you have no clue about the unethical behavior going on not only with staff but with your own administrators, you will look back at this situation and realize it was a huge mistake you make and karma is a bitch". Off I went with my paper box that just happened to be beside my desk. I couldn't believe what was happening. Not knowing why, then hearing rumors from so many was brutal.

For 2.5 months I applied for over 65 jobs and had too much time on my hands to get more angry and upset. Someday I couldn't even get out of bed. I cried more during that time then I had in the past 20 years. I applied for unemployment, and got $325 total, but now have to pay back because the SAU said I resigned. I even spoke to the states lawyers and they were not impressed on how Bedford handled the situation. The kicker in all of this is that Kurt works for the same district and coaches at the high school, we were known as the "power couple" of BHS. I called lawyers, my union rep for the state, and others to help me with possibly suing the district for depravation of character and wrongful termination. Hard to do when Kurt works in Bedford. I decided to walk away. Not an easy thing to do.

Going to school activities is tough; because I don't know what rumors the people are hearing and believing. Also I still to this day don’t know why and no one will return my emails/calls to tell me.

Many others at this high school have been treated this way and it is so disheartening. You just never know what tomorrow will bring. I still have good and bad days. People who I thought were my friends weren't. So that sucks, and not knowing why is the worst. If I did that would have me move on and learn from it, but how do you learn from something you don’t know about.

The up side of this is I did get a sweet job at SNHU for more money and better working conditions. It is totally different from what I was doing at BHS. With all the craziness I hear about what is going on up on the hill in Bedford it is a blessing I am out of there. I just hope that the administration realizes the problems they have and take care of them quickly so they do not have to put anyone else through what they did to me and others I watched them do it to.