this is really happening.

This is a big one, folks.

This post will be unlike any post I've ever written.

Yesterday, a student asked me about the situation and I decided it was probably time to let the cat out of the bag.

My colleagues and my family, along with some friends, already know my big news.

However, I feel like posting it on the blog makes it public knowledge and that can only mean one thing...

This is really happening.

After thirteen years as a teacher of one kind or another, I'll be leaving the classroom.

Leaving the classroom.

Three words I wasn't sure I would EVER say.

I was born to be a teacher.

The Lord put a passion for education in my heart and I never questioned it.

I knew that I wanted to come to school every single day and inspire young people.  

I wanted to be there the moment that a student's imaginary lightbulb flickered on above his head when he finally grasped a concept that we had been working on.

I wanted to be the reason that a student with special needs felt successful in the general education classroom.

When my former students were asked later in life who their favorite teacher was...I wanted to make that list.

I wanted my kiddos to look back on their time with Mrs. Newkirk as their teacher and say, "She played a small part of who I am today."

I'm hopeful that I've been able to make a difference like this in the lives of kids and families over the last thirteen years.

However, the Lord has also given me a passion for people with special needs.

My parents opened up a group home for adults with disabilities when I was in upper-elementary school. 

What started out as four adult women with various needs living with us in our home from then until my high school years has now grown to three separate group homes in our small town, where we provide housing and community habilitation services for twelve ladies.

Growing up in the group home led me to pursue a double-major in college...elementary education and special education.  

In fact, I started my career in the special education classroom and only transitioned into the general education classroom because of a series of crazy events that I believe the Lord orchestrated to give me general education experience, to allow me to meet and work with some of my very best friends in the world, and to give me an opportunity to touch the lives of many children over the last ten years.

Almost nine years ago, I graduated with my masters degree in Education Administration.

My plan was to continue teaching for several years and then hopefully find an elementary principal's job to finish out my career...but not for a looooooong while.

And then, a few years ago, my principal (a mentor and friend to me) said, "Have you ever thought about going into special education administration?"

​Well, I hadn't really considered that and honestly didn't even want to think about going back to school. 

(Okay, in the interest of full disclosure...I didn't want to think about PAYING to go back to school.)

However, the administrative team encouraged me to not dismiss the idea immediately, but instead to call and see what classes I would need to fulfill the requirements necessary for a job in special education administration.

So in April of 2016, I called.

And I needed two classes.  Two.

I needed one class that was offered only a 45-minute drive away, over three weekends that next summer.  Three weekends that were open on our family calendar.

I also needed an internship class that I could do right there in my home district with the Director of Special Services.

And we could pay for them both in cash.  No more student loans.

That seemed easy enough.  So I signed up, thinking it would be good to have options for my very distant future.

I finished up the class over the summer of 2016 and finished the internship in the spring of 2017.

Fast-forward to this past August...the beginning of this school year.

Our superintendent calls me into his office to tell me that our current Director of Special Services is retiring at the end of the year and he would like me to be ready to present to the school board about the possibility of stepping into that position for the next school year.

WHAT!?!  Like NEXT YEAR!?!

His idea was that I could be trained during this school year...to shadow our current director, to prepare to take that role the following August.

Long story short, Mr. Farmhouse and I prayed about it.
A host of family and friends prayed about it with us and for us.
​We had lots and lots of conversation about it.

I talked for hours about the possibility to my current teaching partner.

I contacted friends of mine who are special education directors for support and answers to my questions.

I presented to the board.
They offered me the job.
And I accepted.

I believe that I will be able to use my leadership skills, my passion for education, and my knowledge and experience working with my students and the adults in our group home with special needs in this new role.

I believe that this is just another place that God can use me to make a difference in the lives of children and families.

There are things about this transition that will not be easy.

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I cannot imagine what my life will be like when I'm not spending eight hours a day in a classroom.  I can't imagine not planning engaging lessons, getting to know my students and their families, and spending time every single day trying to encourage them to be the best little human beings they can be.

I will be so sad to leave my elementary hallway neighbors...my work family.  I truly love my colleagues and enjoy being able to pop out in the hallway to share something with my dear friend across the hall or a coworker passing by.

Perhaps the most difficult transition will be leaving my teaching partner who I have spent the last nine years working alongside.  He truly is the big brother I never had and not being a team anymore will be a big change for us both.  He has reminded me that I'm only moving about a hundred yards down the hallway...thank goodness.

With any transition, there will be some sorrow...some difficulty.

But there will also be joy, excitement, reflection, and new ideas.

I am so thankful to be able to stay in my current district.  I've grown so much as an educator and met so many people who are near and dear to my heart.

I'm grateful to my principal for pushing me to go back to school,
our superintendent for encouraging me to move forward,
our school board for giving me this opportunity,
our current special education director for training me,
my mentor special education director from my alma mater,
my colleagues (current and former) for believing in me,
the two fourth grade teachers in my building that make up the other half of our team for offering so much encouragement this year, 
my teaching partner for all of his support through the years...especially this year,
my friends,
my family...our parents, grandparents, and siblings, 
my dear Mr. Farmhouse and our three sweet girls.

I'm grateful for my students & their parents through all of my teaching years.
For the life lessons that I have learned standing in front of that classroom.
For the opportunities to grow and develop into the educator I am today.

I'm just so very grateful.

​Life will be different here in the farmhouse in just a few short months.

For now though, I'm going to enjoy the time I have left this year with my darling third graders...shaping young minds.  Laughing with them and cheering with them.  Helping them along and making sure to let them know how much they help me along, too.

​My dear sister-in-law left a gift on my table at home a few weeks after I accepted the new position.  It could not have been more perfect for the occasion. 

​The inscription on the bottom of this angel reads, "A time to reflect...a time to soar..."

Wow.

This is really happening.

​❤️🏡❤️