I left Alaska the summer of 2009 to explore other places and to get my husband out of the cold.  I received a call from a principal in New Orleans.  Would I consider joining a team that would start a new charter school in the inner city?  I flew down for an interview.

New to the city, I stayed in a small boutique hotel (translate=run down) in the French Quarter.  I had a great time tooling around during the day and was warned to stay inside at night.  Hmmmm  But it looked like it might work.  My principal was a wonderful young man who had the energy of six people.  He spoke very fast and was always doing three things at once (cell phone, our conversation, and making plans).

I will write more of NOLA later, but after a 16 months, we moved to Virginia to be closer to family.  I was sure that we could find a job in Staunton, Virginia.  There was three cities within driving distance and it was a center for warehousing (my husband’s line of work).  It was two years there with no permanent job that I realized that I was hitting a wall.  There was no way to settle down in the Shenandoah Valley.  It was confusing.

In desperation, I opened up the Alaska Teacher Placement site and saw that there was a job in Southeast Alaska.  I have always held a special place in my heart for that area.  It’s a rainforest, for those who don’t know, with the sea and the Tongass National Forest all around you; green and blue.  I decided to try for it.  I sent my resume and an email cover letter to the school district.  I had an interview in 3 days.  I had a job.