So, I believe I have some updating of this little blog of ours to do and you should be seeing several posts in the next few days regarding everything TFA and life!
In May I spent 5 days out in Newark for what is affectionately known as May Days among the Newark Corps. It was so great to be there and finally put faces to all of the people that I’d been communicating over the past several months. One benefit of being a first deadline corps member is that you have a lot of time to get to know people and get as much information about Newark as you can! The daily session consisted mostly of learning about the achievement gap in Newark and about what we, as teachers, can do about it on a daily basis. There was also all manners of paperwork, testing, and figerprinting to get done in order to be a teacher in New Jersey as well as plenty of time to just hang out and get to know one another before the intensity of institute hits us all like a ton of bricks.
After my classroom observations (an entire post in and of itself) ended on Friday afternoon I met up with my then fiance, now husband, and a current TFAer and her husband for dinner and a little league baseball game as well as some house hunting. We spent all day Saturday house hunting and visiting with my mentor for the fall and WE FOUND A HOUSE! We were so excited when we walked in and looked around, realizing that it was exactly what we had been praying for and at the way that God continues to provide for every one of our needs, even the little “requirements” I had for a place to live! Sunday was spent relaxing, eating local neighborhood foods, hanging out with the mafia, and flying home relishing in how excited we were to begin our life in Newark!