I had this picture on my teacher desk at school every single year for NINE years. It’s circa 1989, my first day of second grade. And that purple outfit was brand new and the coolest thing I had to wear. My students always laughed when I told them the story of this picture…and a few of them even asked me, “why is that BOY wearing purple?” I smiled and told them, “That’s not a boy, guys. That’s ME with my hair in a braid. It was the 80’s, OK!?” Smiles.

Today is the first day back to school for students in Atlanta. It’s also the very first year ever that I won’t enter a public school classroom as either a teacher or a student. And I am sentimental!

My students were always my favorite thing about being a teacher. I just love getting to know their burgeoning personalities and guiding them along in their discoveries. Planning intriguing lessons that crossed the various subjects was my second favorite part of being an educator. I loved tying everything together at the end of the day, and I approached this with almost obnoxious excitement. But the kids loved it. And of course that is all that matters!

For those of you coming to Green Drink Diaries for health and non-toxic cancer information, don’t worry- there will be plenty more of that coming in my next posts. As I prepare to move forward into full-time motherhood, work as a health educator, private tutor, and into the world of non-profit work, I wanted to share some teaching memories and lessons along the way that are dearest to my heart.

I entered into elementary education following a failed attempt to teach high school in Atlanta. After graduating from college, I tried to move there right away. It was always a city I felt drawn to, appreciating its energy and social scene geared towards hip twenty-somethings. I took several job interviews without even a rejection phone call coming out of it. I was very young and inexperienced (21), very small ( a tad north of 5 ft) and my guess is that the interviewing principals just didn’t see me fitting the profile of a high school history teacher.

My sweet and incredibly awesome Aunt Tracey Getson believed in me (let’s be honest here- I bet she was just looking out for my mom who needed me to GET A JOB!) and encouraged me to interview at the elementary school she taught at near my hometown in South Florida. (Love you, Aunt Trace!) The position was for an interim 5th grade teacher. I never had thought about teaching elementary school, but it was one of those “God things”, and I got the job.

My first year teaching in 2004 was a HUGE year of growth. Teaching those first 29 students, I learned a lot of what NOT to do for sure. At Open House a few weeks after school started, I broke out in hives speaking to a group of about 30 parents and almost burst into tears. I also got in trouble that year for showing Disney’s “Diary of Anne Frank” and sent a SOBBING group of 5th grade girls to lunch. I thought- it’s DISNEY!! I learned a big lesson of watching ALL movies before showing them to your students- even if it is Disney! (:

That same year, South Florida endured 4 hurricanes in the span of 4 months- Charley, Ivan, Jeanne, and Frances. We missed more than 3 weeks of school, most of that time which I used to study 5th grade textbooks by candlelight. I am so thankful to the veteran teachers who surrounded me that year, and also for my own 5th grade teacher who I thought of many times when I felt like I just didn’t add up.

Needless to say, I didn’t get asked back to teach there the next year. A much better fit for me- a Title 1 school with a beautiful student population of mostly secondary English language speakers awaited me in 2005. I was so excited to begin a school year actually knowing what I was doing and having completed a whole school year. But this year also had some challenges. First, in August Hurricane Katrina hit South Florida before it severely impacted New Orleans. Then, although nothing compared to Katrina’s impact, the worst natural disaster I had ever experienced- Hurricane Wilma hit my area directly. I had never been through the eye of a hurricane, nor seen pieces of roofs blowing off of people’s homes with my own two eyes through the cracks of plywood over my own home’s windows. We were out of school for another two weeks. Several of my students lived in mobile homes and they were completely destroyed. I learned this year that my students needed me for much more than teaching them math and reading.

I stayed at that school through 2006 until moving to Atlanta in 2007 when I experienced the most growth of all. This was primarily due to the drastic change of socioeconomic levels from teaching students below the poverty line to serving one of the most affluent zip codes in Georgia. I went from ZERO parent involvement to MAJOR parental involvement. And I say this respectfully and with love, as I appreciate parent involvement, but these Moms kept me on my toes. (: This year I vividly remember mastering how to draft quick emails and notes with compassion and tact, a must when you get roughly 20 emails per day from parents. I learned here that it is sometimes not so important to be RIGHT- but to serve the child and get accomplished what needs to happen.

In August of 2008, I came back married as “Mrs. Campbell” and was at my teacher desk grading papers when I found the lump in my armpit. This led straight into my cancer diagnosis and life completely changed. I remember when I told my students about having cancer before my husband and I decided to pursue natural therapies. I was days away from the surgery to get the chemotherapy port. One of my students asked if I was going to lose my hair. I said- “Yes, I probably will, but I’ll get some cool wigs!” He answered back with “I think you should get one with the orange braids like the Wendy’s girl!” Since I never needed the wig, I took this picture just for him. (:

That same school year I found out I was pregnant and the emotions I experienced ranged from absolute joy to irresponsibility and extreme fear. As if it weren’t enough that I chose alternative therapies to treat my cancer and many were negatively gossiping, now I was pregnant with cancer. This is also the school year I threw up outside of the door of my classroom with morning sickness, thankfully in a trash can. I also remember having a student throw up in the middle of our state testing from anxiety. GO “No Child Left Behind”! Lots of throwing up going on, but none of it because of cancer treatment.

My first day of “back to school” in 2009 was the only day I experienced ankle swelling during my pregnancy. I was 28 weeks along.

By then, I finally had a grasp on what it was like to handle an academically demanding curriculum and school culture and felt like a true teaching professional. There’s something about being pregnant too that gives you some credibility. (: This year I gave birth to my daughter, Ruby-Claire who had an instant fan club in my 26, 5th graders. They made me the best cards, most of which are in Ruby-Claire’s baby book still.

The class I had in 2010 gave me a run for my money. That year I began to really develop opinions about how I could improve the American public school system if I could just stick it to “The Man.” I was one teacher with 26 students, many of whom had various difficulties with academic progress or behavior management. The paper work was overwhelming and long hours were needed, all unpaid of course to reach all of my students’ learning styles. Oh, and then there was the cancer-fighting raw vegan diet I had to prepare for, pumping breast milk on the back floor of my classroom, AND I had a BABY to get home to!! By the end of the year, I was burnt out and decided I needed a change. Quitting teaching was not an option, especially since my husband had just started TINT Studios and we needed the income. I still loved being a teacher, so I decided to leave the 5th grade curriculum I adored and take a giant leap of faith, LoL…….down to 4th grade.

In 2011, I was excited for the new experience of 4th graders! They were so sweet and innocent compared to end-of-the-year 5th graders I had been used to. They also needed a lot of guidance on how to be organized and how to study. But they were so sweet. I also LOVED the history I was to teach! The 5th grade curriculum took us all the way from the Civil War to 9/11. After 7 years of that, I actually was learning new stuff! This new exploration of early American history led to the idea of Common Sense Kids, winning the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Grant, and our eventual movie and recognition by Apple, which was by far the highlight of the year!

In 2012, I was pregnant again and although I did have morning sickness, I did not throw up in or outside of the classroom (and neither did any of my students!) I had a WONDERFUL class who trooped with me through the year as we danced every morning during our “Brainsmart Starts” even with a giant belly. In November, my husband Kevin and I were invited by the education team at Apple to speak at their annual Education Sales Meeting in Texas. There our “Common Sense Kids” movie was shown to a crowd of 600, who at the end burst into a standing ovation! I then joined Apple Education VP Stephanie Carullo for a 15 minute Q & A on the making of the movie, and I was also able to share my solutions to some of the stagnancy in American education today. It was AMAZING and by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. I was glad my 2012 4th graders were so understanding that I wasn’t able to do something as cool again this year, being pregnant and exhausted! We did do a little something though, producing “Common Sense: 2013” on our own this time, without a winning grant to help us make the movie and with me soon to be out on maternity leave with my daughter, Annabel.

If you got to the end of this post, I am thankful that you took the time to read about something so dear to my heart! My teaching career brought me so much joy and I adored my students! I don’t want to end this post with some long-winded emotional statement, but I can truly say that the gift and the desire to teach was instilled in me by me Heavenly Father, and I am so glad to have been able to influence, serve, learn, and guide the students whose paths I crossed!

**Cortney (: