I put all my gear in my pack and hit 17.2lbs after spending the morning repackaging items. Still a bit heavy. My GPS and umbrella weren’t in there, so I’m really over 18lbs for a base weight with 50 days to go till I hit the CDT. 

Everything is spread out, so I’ll have good opportunities to pare things down some more. 

I’ve been struggling to let my employer know that it’s time for me to move on. I’ve been in the school district for 21 years. It’s been my life. But that’s part of the problem.

As a superintendent/principal of a small rural school district, I do a bit of everything.  If I’m awake, I’m doing something related to school. Even when I’m exercising, it takes concentrated effort to move my brain away from work.

My blood pressure is often 160/100 and sometimes higher. Five to six hours of sleep is the average. I had to make a change, so I sent letters to my school board today telling them I was resigning at the end of the current school year.

Most of the time when a superintendent resigns, it’s because he or she is moving to a larger or more affluent school. I’m leaving to hike the Continental Divide Trail.

There’s a lot behind this photo. You just see a few kale plants and the underside of a tunnel, but there’s a month and a bit more to get a plant ready to move to this spot. Seeds were placed in a soil block, heated and kept moist until they sprouted, moved under grow lights, thinned to two plants per block, water and care for three weeks under lights, ground tilled and a bed prepared, supports and grow covering installed, plants placed and planted, and the covering finally put on top!

Isn’t that almost exactly like what the education of a child is? So many invisible steps that have to be taken to nurture and to support each student before he or she can grow on their own. Know that your work in putting in place all the invisible steps is appreciated.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!