Home is where the heart is?

York, PA is not a tiny town.  According to the 2010 census (and Wikipedia), the population within the city limits was 43,718 folks. 

However, each time I’ve been out this week I’ve seen familiar faces.  On Monday night, while at the grocery store, we saw a secretary from one of my old schools in Dover School District.  On Tuesday, we headed across town over to Chipotle and Sweet Frog to take advantage of the teacher deals for Teacher Appreciation Week.  While in Sweet Frog, I saw a friend I used to hang out with when living in Harrisburg and in Chipotle, teachers fI worked with in West York and York County School of Technology stood in line waiting for their freebies with me.  My outing to Dairy Queen tonight yielded a nice surprise when one of my former students waited on us!  Now a junior, he has come a looooong way from when I first taught him back in 2^nd through 9^th grades! 

My ties to NC remain with me even as I go about daily life up here in YoPa.  I had to chuckle to myself when I tried to get my Sweet Frog card punched the other night when the server looked at it then said, “Sorry, this is only good for Greensboro” before giving my card back to me.  She then asked if I lived there…it turns out she had lived in Greensboro before her Dad’s job relocated the family to York.  !!!!!  Then, on the way to Lauren and Trevor’s house last night, “Sweet Caroline” played on the radio.  Heh.

It has been wonderful being out and about in the community that has been my home away from home since Fall 2003.  On my way to my friends’ house for dinner last night, I drove past five schools I used to teach in…and  the memories of all the students and colleagues I had met in the various buildings came over the years came flooding back to me.  Here are some pictures (some of which involved a Flat Stanley project I helped my Montana cousins with in 2007) that accompanied the ones in my memory.  ;)

This was my corner on the 2nd floor of the old Vo-Tech library.

I was lucky enough to work in West York Middle School all 7 years....this is a rarity in the field of itinerant teaching with being assigned to multiple districts or even different districts each year!

My partners in crime!  The lovely librarian and assistant who so graciously let me work with my kiddos in their library during a pizza party at the end of the year back in 2006.

Once Vo-Tech expanded, I had half of a room to work in during the 2006/2007 school year! 

My old itinerant office at Yorkshire.  Many late nights were spent here, much to the dismay of my poor mentor.  ;)

My new itinerant office was in this building during the last couple years I worked in York.

 

On the way home last night, I got to thinking….Perhaps the reason I was so hoping for the York College position was to try to come back and recreate my 7 years here.  Maybe that is not what is meant to happen.  No matter where I go, I will still have the support and love of my faith, family, and friends, thank God!  Perhaps it’s time for me to go elsewhere and create a new home away from home once I graduate from UNCG? 

Hearing this song on Glee the other night made me realize that no matter where I go, whether it's a new place or a familiar place, it will be okay.