Ellensburg again...

On September 1st, 2010, we returned to Ellensburg, the place where we had met, fell in love, and gotten married at the court house some 20 years ago. I was a graduating History major she was a special education teacher still in training. Our first son was born in Ellensburg and it seems only fitting that he'll graduate from Ellensburg HS next year.

So many miles we've traveled to wind up here. For three years I commuted to Yakima where I had my first teaching job at Davis High School. Walt Ranta was the teacher in the next room. I continued to work as a concert rigger on the weekends and throughout each summer at the Gorge amphitheater. I was able to meet every performer, got over 200 autographs and hundreds of photos from back stage to on stage. It was a different world then, no terrorists plots, no major wars, and the economy was humming along.

We spent 9 years working for the Yakima School District, I went back to school on the weekends and earned my Master Degree in School Administration from Heritage College in 1995 but didn't start working as a principal until 2000. Ten years later and now two teenage boys, and we're back at Central Washington University as my wife begins to finish her BA in English. She's been writing short stories for years and I've been composing verse, songs, and poetry for over 30 years now. One of us will be published in the near future - who knows, maybe we both will. :-)

Anyway, the town has grown for the better, the campus is magnificent, and the public high school is fantastic. Our boys have never been in a school of this size and they were blown away by all of the different class offerings they could choose from. We've been in small schools/ districts for the past ten years and this has been the best move yet!

Yes, I'm still looking for another job each week, but for the time being I'm going to substitute teach, get back in touch with my boys and my wife, and relive Ellensburg again...