Back to School

The students won't be arriving until after Labor Day, but Tyler, the former corporate Vice President turned high school math teacher,will be starting his new job this week.

A classic Type A, Tyler has been planning how he will decorate the room and motivate the kids. He hopes "coach" will be part of the salutation. Tyler doesn't just want to teach, he wants to coach. It's been part of his dream for as long as I've known him---almost 20 years.

It's only been 10 months since Tyler left his corporate job. He had plenty of time to prepare --nearly three years ago, Tyler was part of the executive team that searched for a white knight to save his former company. The company was saved but most of the executive staff was shown the door.

Tyler was thrilled. When he took his former job nearly six years ago , he wanted it to be his last corporate one. His goal has always been to be in a financial position so he could afford to be a teacher. Thanks to the merger and a wife who has a secure and high paying career, Tyler has the freedom to pursue his dream.

Over the summer Tyler did his student teaching in a remedial geometry class in a inner school school.  Think Dangerous Minds. were nearly 40 students in the class. As he said, " if you can teach here, you can teach anywhere."

He didn't agree with the teacher's strategy for the class. " his goal was to cover all the material. There's no way these kids were going to get it.  You could see the kids eyes glazing over."

Tyler said if it were left up to him he would have focused on two or three key concepts.Then he added, " I wasn't the teacher."

Now he is. He has a contract. He has a room. He has the text books. He has a bulletin board to design and he has lesson plans to do.

Throughout the year, we'll be checking in on Tyler to hear about his  transformation from corporate executive to high school math teacher.

Have a great year, Tyler!

NOTE: Tyler is a pseudonym. His contract probably forbids him from talking about his job without clearance from the school district.