Week One Done!

Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park in downtown Chicago.

Make no mistake, people. Being a teacher is hard work. Celeste and I have been learning that lesson over and over again over the past week, and we still haven't even taught an official class! We've just been learning the new language that comes along with teaching in public schools, while being trained till we can't take it any more. And after week 1 (which was just heavy, heavy preparation for the classroom), we realize more than ever that we've got our work cut our for us.

The Teaching

So Celeste and I teach at two different schools in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and we're also teaching different subjects and different age groups. I will be teaching high school World History at John Hope High School, and Celeste will be teaching 2nd graders at Mason Elementary School (caveat: our summer teaching assignments have nothing to do with what we'll actually be teaching in North Carolina. At this point, Celeste is still planning on teaching Spanish/Science, and I'm still planning on teaching Social Studies/Spanish).

Now, just a quick word about these schools: they're in bad shape, in more ways than one. They're both located on the South Side of Chicago, which, if you know anything about Chicago, is home to most of the crime, projects, and poverty in the city (John Hope High School is no stranger to school shootings and students being murdered). It's a sad sight. On average, about 60% of the students from the South Side drop out of school and succumb to the streets. And of the ones that do graduate, 90% of them score lower on Illinois Standardized tests compared to students from more affluent communities. These are the front lines of this nation's education battle, and we're the infantry.

Tomorrow's our first day of actual teaching. Wish us luck, y'all. We're gonna need it.

The Training

All of the Teach For America teachers are staying in dorms at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, also on the South Side. The campus is actually very nice, and Celeste and I are fortunate enough to be "roomies". And while everyone else has to share communal showers and bathrooms (much like Helaman Halls at BYU - bad EFY memories constantly flood our minds), Celeste and I have the Residential Assistant's suite, which means we have our own bathroom and a kitchenette to boot. Granted, the bathroom's a little sketchy and the kitchenette's appliances haven't worked since the mid 1970's, but we're grateful for what we've got.

For those of you out ther wondering what our lives are like day to day, it's very much like the Missionary Training Center, and the whole Teach For America thing is turning out to be very much like the Mission.


Reasons why TFA Institute is like the MTC:


-Companions/roommates (mine's okay, I guess :)
-Early to bed, early to rise (we're up at 5:15 every morning to get breakfast before our buses leave)
-Extensive training, but instead of learning how to teach the Gospel, we're learning how to teach the basics.
-Meeting lots of new people. There are nearly 500 TFA teachers out here training, and when we're all done, we'll go anywhere from Boston to Milwaukee to Kansas City. The only thing we're missing is that big map in the MTC so we can all get pictures pointing to our soon-to-be stomping grounds.
-Cafeteria food.

The City

So far we've loved living in Chicago. Neither of us had ever been before, so we weren't really sure what to expect. Now, we've only been here a week, so we still have a lot to learn and to see, but so far it's been great. They've got a great public transportation system that makes it both quick and easy for us to get right into the heart of downtown Chicago where all the action is happening.

The Sears Tower from downtown.

Our weeks are pretty intense and require a lot of homework and reading out of us, but we decided to go out on the weekend and have some fun. So Friday night we went into the city and just walked around downtown and got McFlurry's at McDonald's (classy, I know). We walked around Grant Park (which is Chicago's version of Central Park). Then last night, we went to a festival downtown called Taste of Chicago. Tons of good food, ferris wheels, and the very best part...a free Counting Crows concert. It was so amazing. We had great seats and the show was unbelievable. Even Celeste, who has never really liked the band, walked away impressed with the concert. It was a good time. Then we came back to the apartment and watched Seinfeld episodes until we fell asleep. Yep, that's how we roll...the glam life of teachers baby, that's where it's at.

On to Chicago!

The Sears Tower in downtown Chicago.

Hey y'all! Much has happened in the last week since our last post, so we'll try to keep this update short and sweet.

After leaving Washington, DC, Celeste and I made it safely to Durham, North Carolina to report for our Teach for America orientation week. It wasn't easy though. We took a Greyhound down there, and let me tell you, that's tough traveling. Let us now loudly proclaim to all of you that Greyhound buses should be the ultimate last resort for travel for everyone but your worst enemies. Aside from the fact that our female driver had more facial hair than I could ever dream to have (seriously, it was a full goatee, and it looked as though she groomed it on a regular basis), it was loud, cramped, and smelly. On top of all that, Celeste and I were separated for most of the trip, which made the screaming babies and belligerent mothers that much worse.

Beautiful country, somewhere in Middle America. We saw a lot of beautiful agricultural properties like this one on our long trip from Durham, NC to Columbus, OH.

Our discomfort subsided, however, when we arrived at the Durham Hilton just a couple of miles from the campus of Duke University. It was a welcome change, and we were well treated throughout the week. During the week, we were trained and given various orientation trainings on our new callings as teachers, and we got to meet our fellow corps members (some of which hailed from schools like Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, and MIT. As you can imagine, we Aggies fit right in). Celeste and I also got to interview at a few schools in rural North Carolina. See, the way it works is that we're accepted into the Teach for America program, but we're employed by the State of North Carolina, so we still have to interview for our jobs. We haven't heard anything back, but the good news is that Celeste and I interviewed at three of the same schools for 2 different positions, so there's a decent chance that we'll actually be hired on at the same school. Talk about cool!

We literally drove right through this mountain, located somewhere in West Virginia.

Then yesterday, we packed up a rental car and drove 8 hours to Columbus, Ohio where we met up with Celeste's sister Sarah and her husband Jason. Oh, and their lovely baby Lynlee. As you can guess, it didn't take long for me to become "Favorite Uncle Jack", or "FUJ" as I like to be called. Although I've got to be careful. The way Lynlee was smiling at Celeste yesterday, she may give me a run for my money. Anyway, we woke up early this morning and drove the remainder of our trip from Columbus to Chicago, and have been here since early this afternoon.

Ohio. Yep, Ohio.

We now face the challenge of becoming teachers head on. Tomorrow morning, Celeste and I will both take a 7:00 a.m. bus ride to our student teaching schools (not the same school, unfortunately), and will begin observing our students. Come next week, we'll actually take center stage and begin teaching. Wow. Nuts.

Well, we love you all. We're safe, happy, and in love, and hope you're all the same.

Us at a Durham Bulls game the night before we left (The Bulls are a minor league baseball team. Ever see the movie "Bull Durham"? Yeah, this is the team.)

Our DC Slideshow

Hello, everyone. We are sad to say that our time in DC has expired, and that shortly we'll be heading to Chicago for our intense teacher training and student teaching. Woo hoo!

So, just for your enjoyment, we've compiled a long and boring slideshow of a bunch of pictures we've taken over the last couple of weeks, each one equipped with it's own witty caption. Enjoy!

The Capitol from the CVC (Capitol Visitors Center). And that's it. I can't think of anything witty to add.

A very rainy rain storm. I mean, look at all that rain!

The Capitol from the roof of the Russell Senate Office building. I had to hurry up and take this picture because there are snipers on the roofs. Hence the less-than-perfect framing.

Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, meeting with members of Congress in gorgeous beige pantsuit.

Okay, this painting is in the Smithsonian, people. Stephen Colbert...in the Smithsonian. The plaque next to the painting stated: "A gift from Stephen Colbert".

"But I don't want to be a pirate!"
The Jerry Seinfeld "puffy shirt" on display at the Museum of American History.

Shopping at Trader Joe's. I know, you're all jealous.

Us at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Celeste refused to take a good picture.

Yep. That guy.

Just before doing a session at the DC Temple. I know what you're all thinking. And the answer is yes, I have been gaining weight.

The Jefferson Memorial nestled comfortably against the Potomac River.

"The Caped Crusader"
-Celeste

Nice pic, Celeste!

Our visit to the Holocaust Museum that didn't happen.

Today at 12:50 EST, an 88-year old white supremacist walked into the Holocaust Museum in downtown Washington, DC and opened fire on a security guard. It didn't take long for backup security forces to respond and for the shootout to end. The old man was taken down, but not before killing an officer and causing a widespread panic - the kind of panic spurred by pure, unadulterated terrorism - throughout the museum.

All of the above is both saddening and crazy. But perhaps even crazier is the fact that Celeste and I were actually walking to the Holocaust Museum so that she could see it for the first time when police cars, helicopters, and even the FBI Bomb Squad sped past us to the scene of the crime. We were only blocks away, but by the time we got there, the entire area was blocked off with police tape.

Adrian Fenty, the Mayor of Washington, DC (he's the one in the khaki suit), speaking to the press in the wake of the shooting.

It's scary to think how close we came to being in the middle of a massacre. I mean, really. We so often pray for safety without really thinking about it. This is going to sound cliche, but before we left the house this morning, we prayed for safety on our way. Either it's a big coincidence, or God really does answer prayers.

We're going to pray for safety again tomorrow seeing as we're going back to the Holocaust Museum. You never know when lightning is going to strike the same place twice.

For the full story, check out:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/10/dc.museum.shooting.suspect/index.html

He's baaaack!!! Oh, and so is she.

Since my last "Maverick" posting, many of you have sent me requests for John McCain's autograph, a stitch of his clothing, or a strand of his ever-thinning hair. I have regrettably been unable to fulfill these petitions, and for that I apologize. I can, however, provide you with another story.

Well, it's really not much of a story, but today I and another intern were on our way to the House of Representatives (or "the HOR" as some like to call it) and got into the little subway cars that they have underneath the Capitol. Well, we were just about to leave, and wouldn't you know it? John McCain must have missed me, so he came and sat in the subway car next to me! We didn't have a conversation like last time, but at this point in our relationship we don't need to talk much. We understand each other by simply turning our backs to each other. See?

A little blurry, I know. But you get the idea. That green lump in the bottom left corner is my shoulder.

Yep. Me and Johnny are getting pretty chummy out here. Let me know if you want him to invade something. I'm pretty sure it won't take much convincing.

Okay, I should now explain the "she's back" remark.

Celeste O'Tela Britt Olsen, the girl of my dreams and the future mother of my adorable children (tentatively named Boulder, Blitz, Raider, Rifle, and Mordecai, just in case you were wondering), made it safely to DC this week. As some of you may know, I had to come out 2 weeks before her to start my internship while she tied up all the loose ends at her work in Hyrum. Well, those two weeks were long and painful, and I found myself on more than one occasion referring to my co-workers as "dear" or "baby doll" in a spat of wishful thinking. But now she's here, and the two of us are as happy as ever. We've been hitting the town, seeing the sights, and loving every minute together.

We gotta soak it up while we can, because it's just a couple more weeks before we head to Chicago for our training and North Carolina for our official teaching assignments. We're gonna live it up this summer, believe me. In fact, just to prove it, I'm gonna go get some popcorn.