I am the principal at Lyons Middle School and I'm on the hunt for something that may not exist. Therefore, I could use some help. I need either an art teacher that could also teach a couple of tech classes or a tech teacher that is willing to teach a couple of art classes.
Let me tell you why you want this job. I could start with the fact that we have a beautiful new building that is currently in its 7th year. I could tell you about the facilities that USD405 has that I will put up against any district remotely close to our size. I could talk about the community of Lyons that I grew up in and had the great fortune to move back to 9 years ago.
Instead, I want to tell you about the people we have at LMS.
- I have 160 students with unique personalities that will make you think, laugh, and want to do better to help them make it through this awkward life stage. If you have a middle schooler, have had a middle schooler in the past, or been a middle schooler at one point, you know they can be challenging. However, I have learned that the greatest challenges also come with the opportunity for the greatest rewards.
- I have paraeducators, both ESL and Special Education, that come to work every day and go above and beyond what is expected of them to make LMS a better place. Whether it be providing students with needed supplies, decorating hallways on their own time, going to sporting events to cheer on the students they work with all day, or one of many other things, they are here for kids.
- I have a staff that I would not trade....and have had not had to for 3 years. If you know anything about today's educational climate, you may find this hard to believe, but this is the first teaching opening that we have had at LMS in 3 years! That just doesn't happen. Especially with all that families, communities, and schools have gone through over the last 3 years.
I often ask myself why we have not had an opening in that long and always come back to the same thing. This is a place people want to work at. Once here, it is hard to leave. We work really hard, we identify areas of needed improvement, we make plans to address them in the best interest of our kids, and we get things done.
As I look back at the progress we have made over the past few years, I wonder how we did it. It was because of the people we have in our building - students and adults. Now, we still have work to be done and things that need to be improved, but we need to fill the void left by a great educator that is leaving with another great educator that is ready to step in and join a fun team.
If are or know of someone that is interested in teaching art or tech, please have them contact me. I would love to have them visit our building to see how things operate, meet the people I have talked about, and discuss our options. I have no doubt that they would fall in love with this place.
My email is dcarlson@usd405.com. They can email me or message me and I will send you my phone number. Thank you and Go Lions!