NerdyTeacherMom

I was named 2024 Senior Teacher of the Year at Hammond High School. With the honor came the opportunity to address graduates at the May 22 awards ceremony. Here's the speech. STACEY CARTER-LANE:      Good morning, class of 2024! I am excited, grateful and incredibly humbled to be standing here addressing you today. You have had four years of amazing, dedicated and caring teachers – and you voted me as your Teacher of the Year. Thank you. I have wanted to be Teacher of the Year for years. I think the biggest attraction was the validation. (And I mistakenly thought the distinction came with a parking spot, which would’ve been cool, too.)  But with all of the awesome choices you have here at Hammond High School, I decided a while back to just let it go. And then, this year – of all years – you chose me. And when I say “of all years,” I mean … I have been through a lot in the past year or two. And I know many of you have, also. I want to tell you about one of the struggles I had this y

A Poem for Weary Teachers by STACEY CARTER-LANE Tonight I will sleep. I will forget about school, papers to grade, lessons to plan. I will not wake up thinking of a plan  to save those students -- that young woman, that young man. I will close my eyes and drift away  from the event I forgot to pencil in,  the chores I omitted from the to-do list, the calls I missed. I will fall asleep before my prayer is through. Tonight I will …

It was a Saturday morning. I was doing small chores around the house, and I had to go to the bathroom. But I kept holding it. I was home alone, so there was no need to wait for a family member to get out of the bathroom. And I wasn't expecting anyone to knock on the door. I just kept delaying. I threw in a load of laundry. I put some shoes in their boxes in the closest. I even vacuumed a room. I knew I had to go, but I figured I'd get a few things done and then go. Why was I holding it? What sense did that make? I realized that I have conditioned myself to not use the bathroom when I need to. I have had years of practicing this awful habit. And I am not alone. I suspect that the majority of the more than 4 million American school teachers are used to holding it, too. We teachers simply don’t tinkle whenever we need to. Our jobs and workdays are not designed to accommodate it. Some of us hold it for hours. And going number two ... who has time for that? We complain about it to e