But I have never, ever seen teachers and administrators advocate as hard for someone as they have for Lisa. The scope has been tremendous, and is a real tribute to her talents and abilities as a teacher.
Some of the key players:
Linda Fields, Principal of Hershey Elementary
Linda did a practice interview with Lisa in December, 2012 and was so impressed with Lisa that she wanted to hire her the following May. Unfortunately, Susan DeLong, the assistant principal over hiring, has a policy that family members cannot work together as teachers or as teacher/aide. So, Linda referred Lisa to several principals in May of 2013, made phone calls, and held a teacher's aide position open for her. (Since I teach 4th as well as 5th, I had to agree that I would not use Lisa in my classroom if she were hired.)
Mike Pinto, principal of Cole Elementary, Kim Pinto, 2/3 GT Teacher
Mike's wife, Kim, is a Gifted/Talented teacher and met Lisa during the summer of 2013. She was so impressed with Lisa that she went home and told her husband that there was a terrific teacher looking for a job. Mike had no openings, but he began calling other principals who did and shared with them what Kim had said about Lisa.
Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, Lisa did not have her CPR training on her Indiana License by the start of the 2013-2014 school year, and so she took the job as an aide at Hershey. Since she was a certified teacher (she got her CPR training as well as her Highly Qualified status just after school began) she was able to teach, not just help the other teachers, and so she worked this year in 4th grade teaching a section of Language Arts for an hour and a half daily and then a section of Math for an hour in the afternoon.
Allyson Anthrop, Kris Sharp, Cindy Yeater, 4th Grade Teachers
Lisa worked as an aide for these teachers, specifically assigned as Allyson's aide. These ladies loved having Lisa work with them and found Susan DeLong's rule silly. They pointed out to each other, to me, and to Linda Fields the fact that having Lisa and me in the same building had not been a problem and that Hershey was going to lose a great teacher if the policy was not changed.
May/June, 2014
As the school year wore into May, openings began being listed. Lisa had two interviews with Mike Pinto for an open position he had. A teacher with 8 years experience trumped her for the position only because she had experience with a new writing program TSC is implementing this coming school year. Mike called Lisa and spoke to her for over a half hour about his decision and making it clear that that was the ONLY reason she had not gotten the position.
Then what did he do? He called the head of hiring at Lafayette School Corporation. As he told me later, they have a two tier hiring policy, and you can't get past the first tier unless you know someone. So, without being asked, he called them, shared about Lisa, and pushed her into the second tier so that she could get hired at LSC should she so desire.
But Mike wasn't done. At a principals meeting in late May, the principals were to come with some names of people that should be hired. Linda Fields was prepared to share about Lisa, but Mike trumped her! As she told me afterward, he went on and on about Lisa's capabilities!
Linda Fields made it a point afterward to call/email every principal in TSC recommending Lisa as a teacher to be hired. She also, when she found a position had opened up at Klondike, insisted that Lisa take an afternoon off for comp time and go drop off resumes!
In the meantime, the Hershey 4th grade teachers decided it was time to speak to Susan DeLong about the family hiring policy. Allyson even spoke to Dr. Hanback, superintendent of TSC, about the situation, then spoke again with Susan DeLong. Linda Fields had also done the same, and finally Susan sent out an email in response to the flurry of questions. Linda forwarded it to me:
Subject: Hiring Question
All,
Thank you so much for the time you are taking to thoroughly work through the hiring process. The calls you make for recommendations are tedious, but so necessary.
I have been asked a question about hiring relatives a few times this hiring season so I thought it best if I communicate with all of you.
Question: Can I recommend a family member/relative for a position?
Answer: No. Although we have board policy against anyone supervising a family member, we also have a practice not to hire relatives into the same building. I realize it has happened from time to time, but it should not. That said, please don’t hesitate to put a strong name out for all of us to see! Let’s get that strong candidate in the district somewhere else if we can!
I hope the last two days with students are fun and go fast!
Thank you for all you do,
Susan
Vickie Pearl, Director of Gifted Education
Vickie Pearl, aware that Lisa has aspirations to teach in the Gifted/Talented program, contacted Linda about a half-time position she will have this fall. Unfortunately, Lisa needs full time work. Vickie then contacted me and said, "Please tell Lisa I would like to talk to her about this job, but that I understand she needs something full time. I want you to make sure she understands that it will NOT hurt her chances at a future GT job if she declines this one. I understand that she needs that full time work. But if she would like to interview for this one, I would like to talk to her."
Judy Provonsha, West Lafayette Community School Corporation
Judy is a long time friend - we go back to the 70s! She also works at West Side in their superintendent's office. A couple of positions opened up at Happy Hollow, and Lisa went to drop off a resume. Judy decided to take Lisa across the parking lot and introduce her personally to the principal! Unfortunately, the principal was out of the office, so Judy gave a strong introduction to the secretary.
Upon learning that Lisa had applied at West Side, Allyson phoned that principal. Twice. They happen to be friends. And then she sent an email with a letter of recommendation for Lisa. Not content to stop there, she then sent her letter of recommendation to every TSC elementary principal!
(The last day of school, I popped into Allyson's classroom to say goodbye and found her sobbing at her desk. Assuming it was because she'd just said goodbye to her kiddos, I was surprised when she said, "Lynn, I am crying because Lisa has not yet gotten a job and NO ONE deserves a job more than she does. She is SUCH a good teacher and she needs her own classroom!")
Tuesday and Wednesday, TSC held a fabulous technology conference for its teachers. I walked in Tuesday morning and heard my name being called across a room crowded with educators and administrators.
"Lynn! LYNN!! Emergency!!"
I turned toward the voice and it was Linda Fields, hustling toward me.
"Call Lisa NOW. A 4th grade teacher from Burnett Creek just approached me and asked if Lisa had been hired yet. They have a 4th grade position that will be posted later today or tomorrow and are interested in interviewing her. Call her now. Don't wait! Tell her to call Mark Pearl. Tell her to go after it and be aggressive!!"
I did just that. But I wasn't the only one. Getting wind of the opening. Allyson found Mark Pearl (Burnett Creek principal) at the conference and spoke with him about Lisa. Then she sent him an email with her letter of recommendation attached. She got a quick response:
Sure enough, Lisa got a call and she has an interview on Friday!
I saw Allyson later that day and thanked her. "I have to stay out of this, especially since Susan DeLong has taken such a strong stance on family members working together. I can't advocate for Lisa like I wish I could."
"I know," Allyson replied. "You can't, but I can. And I am in full mama bear mode over this. I love Lisa, and TSC needs her."
Allyson. Linda. Mike. All the rest. Advocating for one person. This goes way beyond any networking I have done or ever seen done. It brings me to tears that Lisa has so many people in her corner, people that love her, care about her, and want to see her with students of her own.
And they are doing for her what I cannot. My heart is full of gratitude, and my fingers are crossed that Friday's interview goes well.
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