For a year and a half I ran an afterschool program. I worked
part-time for a non-profit at a LAUSD elementary school. I loved my job. I had
30 students, grades k-5. The program was free for families since the school was
in a low-income area and I felt like I was actually making a difference for
these kids. I had a lot of creative freedom and got to practice my Spanish with
the parents who didn’t speak English. We had story time, I helped with their homework, we had a prize store and every Friday I announced 3 Super Star students. I had a wonderful program assistant who ran art club and helped me stay sane. We built a garden and grew basil, cucumbers, chard, tomatoes, and eggplant.
Then I got fired. For no reason. Seriously, like I wasn’t told
I did anything wrong, or ever given a warning that my job might not be secure.
My boss, who made the decision, had my supervisor tell me the news after our
Christmas party. I was devastated. This job was my passion, my ministry. These
were my kids! What made it worse was that I had to wait through the 3 weeks of winter
break before I could say goodbye to my students.
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| Saying goodbye to the kids. |
When I went to say goodbye, I also informed the school
administrators, who were very shocked. About a week later, I get a call from my
former supervisor who told me our boss wanted to offer me my job back.
Whaaaaaaat?!? See, I told you I got fired for no reason. I tried to get in
touch with my former boss numerous times to get some sort of explanation, but
she never responded. Now there are some other facts that I became aware of
about my boss and how she was running the non-profit which led me to realize
she was dishonest, and a little shady. I did think for a day about going back
for the kids, but ultimately I knew I couldn’t work for someone who I couldn’t
trust. I’ll be honest, turning her down took off a lot of the sting of getting
fired. Although I think the students really get the short end of the
stick. I miss them every day.
I’ve been working part time as an English teacher to international
college-age students for about two years. While I enjoy it, I’m going to look
for a full-time job. Before I do though, why not get out of town for a bit?
So I’m headed to Monterrey, Mexico for 3 weeks! I lived
there for 6 months back in 2009/2010 and I’m so excited to visit all my friends
there. Hopefully I’ll be able to partake in some ministry with the organization
I worked with, Youth for Christ.
