Thursday, May 17, 2007

OK, I know I am SO overdue for an update. If there wasn't much to say, I would have done so much sooner!
Last weekend, Jeff (and Amelia!!!!!) went up to OR and WA for two interviews. Both went very well, and at this point, there are four potential job offers in the works.
1. Autism Specialist for Clackamas County (near Portland.) This is the most desireable job so far. Jeff would be working with children ages birth to kindergarten, teaching twice a week, doing home visits twice a week, and staff collaboration meetings one day of the week. He loves the idea of doing something different every day. This is the district he worked for while completing his M.A., so he has some great connections there, and really likes the staff/ team dynamics.
2. Preschool Special Ed. Teacher in Longview, WA. Also a very teamwork- oriented program. The school is extremely well equipped to work with kids with disabilites, with a complete team of OTs, PTs, STs (speech), etc. The school is in a gorgeous old wood building. Jeff would teach some, but also be a primary resource for other teachers working with kids with autism. We wouldn't want to live in Longview, however, and if he took this position we would most likely live in Vancouver, WA.
3. Today Jeff had a phone interview with Multnomah (Portland) District. The position is for a Special Ed. Preschool teacher as well, although the classroom would be mixed-- so he would have "unchallenged" kids as well as children with autism and other disabilities. Today's interview was the final one, so we won't have to go up there for another one.
4. Someone from the Lacey District (next to Olympia) has been very secretively and enthusiastically calling Jeff, telling him that they have a position they're sure he'll be VERY interested in, but that they're not allowed to tell him what it is until they get an application. So he filled it out last night, and she'll be calling him to disclose the details tomorrow.

The interesting thing is that both of the OR positions begin July 9th. Orignally, we were planning on moving about July 15th, since J's school year ends after June 20th. We should find out about whether or not he will be offered jobs 1-3 in two weeks. I just got a mild adrenaline rush thinking about all that will happen in such a short amount of time. To make things even more complicated and exciting, we would like to buy a house and move into it, rather than taking on a rental and moving again. I have NO IDEA how things are going to work themselves out, but anything is possible at this point.

On a side note, Jeff was quite valiant for taking A with him, and certainly scored some brownie points with his interviewers for having his 10 month old daughter with him (not at the interviews, though) to give his wife a break. Jeff's sister watched her on Friday (bless you Eden!) and I had two nights and 1 1/2 days to myself! I got exfoliated and massaged and went to the beach. It was wonderful.

We are gearing up for a wild ride in the upcoming weeks, and will try to keep you up to date with everything. We could use some prayers for peace and productivity in the meantime!

6 comments:

DaveShack said...

Ok...I can't keep a secret. It was me calling from the Lacey district. I just wanted so bad for there to be an offer from our area! Would Jeff like to work one day a week for our district? Comes with a free house that you get to keep. And a llama for each year he's taught so far.

Anonymous said...

David's got a hidden side! Who'd a thunk?

Our DSL has been down over a day, so we're doing email with difficulty and can't read blogs much. Hopefully it will be fixed on Sat, rather than Mon.

But I was very glad we could get your update! I'll keep it up so Mom can read it.

Gretchen said...

Hey Ariana, love hearing about the options that you guys are dealing with! It will be exciting to see what materializes.
btw, I don't have your e-mail address. mine is gretchencox@yahoo.com.

Anonymous said...

Dave- so that equates to four llamas?! Count me in.

TimnND said...

Wow! Sounds like your life is going to be a whirlwind very soon. I know you said you guys want to buy a house and that is your plan but I wanted you to know that we own a duplex in SE Portland and the front unit is empty at the moment. If you are not able to buy a house right away but still need a place but done want to sign a lease you are more then welcome to use the front unit. Let us know if we can help with anything else as well. moondancing@comcast.net is our email.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update! I enjoyed seeing sweet and calm Amelia on Friday (plus her sweet, calm mom!). Transitions are exciting! We're wishing you all the best as you make this big move.