The Dog Days of Summer

Since my last post, I have finished teaching here in the PNW, packed up my classroom (and relocated it to our garage), took a quick 4 day trip to Hilo to look at rentals (which included two long days of travel time), started packing, and have made travel arrangements for us and the dogs. Whew!!

I found the best place to get dog kennels is on http://www.dog.com/. I purchased the 'Sky Kennels' which were given great reviews by users on their web site. They are very sturdy, come with the stickers you need for the kennels, two cups that attach to the door for food and water, and they are ventilated on 4 sides (most kennels ae ventilated on three sides). They were about $67.00 each for an intermediate size. (32 x 22) I also purchased two fleece crate pads - blue for Bailey and pink for Jazmin. ($16.99 each) I thought they would help keep them secure and not slide around in the kennel during the trip.

The kennels are sitting on the floor of our dining room now, and the dogs have been going in on their own to sleep in them. I hope in two weeks time they will feel okay about traveling in them.

Our pups know something is up. They are sticking by our sides and love to be in the garage as we are sorting and boxing things up.

We would never dream of leaving them behind! Here's hoping that the temps don't go over 85 on July 15th. We land in Honolulu around 12:30. We may need to wait for the afternoon temps to go down for our interisland flight to Hilo.

All the paperwork is turned in to the Agriculture Department except for the Health Certificate (as of yesterday). The airlines require it within 10 days of travel, so we are going to the vet on July 7th. The AG Dept. said we can hand carry the health certificate and show it when we pick up the dogs in HNL. The 'Dog and Cat Import Form', 2 Rabies Certificates and the $165.00 each Money Order, had to be in greater than 10 days before travel. One more thing I can cross off that big long list of mine!!

Back to packing - more on that later . . .

Aloha! (In 14 days we'll be there!)

The Countdown Begins!

27 days until we leave for the Big Island of Hawaii!

Well, we are also leaving for the BI in 5 days to secure a rental. We're going over for 3 nights and 2 full days, to look at some property and to check out a vacation rental I found, that is somewhat close to where I'll be working. The home is furnished, allows pets, and also is accomodating on a month to month rental. The amazing thing is, the house is owned by someone that teaches at the same school where I'll be working! I think the stars are aligned! :) We're going to stay at the Hilo Hawaiian for two nights, and then at the vacation rental for one night to see how we like it.

With travel time, that takes 4 days out of our packing time. We're going to take the bare minimum, especially if we'll be in a furnished home for awhile. A lot of our belongings we'll leave here in storage and ship later when we have a permanent place to live. I think we may leave our home here mostly furnished and try to rent it out as a vacation rental or, if it comes down to it, a longer rental. We have a friend in Arizona that may be interested in renting it. It's been on the market two weeks now with no interest at all so far. I'm pretty surprised by that. Although an offer or a buyer could come at any moment. I'm not going to stress about it. Okay, well maybe I am, just a little. :)

I just found out that I have to be in Honolulu for orientation on the morning of July 21st for three days. That doesn't give me much time to acclimate. I was hoping the orientation would be local. I'm looking forward to meeting my team and everyone else I'll be working with though. It should be fun!

I still have to finish packing up my classroom today and squeeze in two doctor's appointments. I'm trying to get all my medical, dental, hair etc appointments done before I leave, as I know it will take some time to find replacements for all those professionals.

I'm feeling a little anxious about coordinating everything - the dogs, the cars, the house here AND there, packing and storing. I know it will all fall into place though and I'll FINALLY be warm! (It's about 58 degrees here today for a high!!! It's the middle of June people!!!)

Aloha!

How Did I Find This Position?

When I first considered teaching in Hawaii, I put my resume, letters of recommendations, transcripts, and teaching credentials on a site called, www.teachers-teachers.com From there, I was contacted by a recruiter, Carmen Leal (cleal@teachers-teachers.com) , who is NOT employed by the Hawaii Department of Education. She works independent from the DOE, and anyone considering working for the public school system should definitely work with an outside recruiter. If you would like your questions answered, emails returned promptly, and someone to hold your hand through the process it's definitely the way to go. There is no cost to you. I believe the DOE pays the recruiter somehow. I'm not sure how it works on her end.

I wasn't convinced I wanted to teach in the public school system, and while I was applying through the DOE, I was also checking out private schools. Some of the schools I investigated were, Hawaiian Preparatory Academy (www.hpa.edu), Kamehameha Schools (www.ksbe.edu), Parker School, (www.parkerschool.net), and Waimea Country School (www.waimeacountryschool.org). There are other private schools listed at, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (www.hais.org). They have a link on their home page, "Job Board" where you can search for positions throughout Hawaii.

Of the schools I researched, Kamehameha Schools was the only school that had a position that fit what I was looking for. They too, have an employment link to search for jobs throughout Hawaii. On the Big Island, their campus is located 7 miles south of Hilo in Kea'au. They also have campuses on Maui and Honolulu. Their enrollment is close to 7,000 students which makes them the largest independent school in the United States. They also have community outreach programs which benefit students who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend KS.

I applied on line for the Literacy Resource Teacher position the day before I had an interview in Seattle for the Hawaii Department of Education. I didn't know how long it would take to hear from KS, so I went ahead and did my mainland interview in Seattle. The DOE gave me an offer letter to teach special education on the Big Island. It wasn't a contract, but an offer that they would have employment for me.

March 30th I applied online with KS, and March 31st was my interview with the DOE. I was told by the DOE recruiter that it may be a month before I heard about an open position. It was actually about a week and a half before I heard from a principal from Laupahoehoe Elementary on the Hamakua Coast (my first choice). He offered me the position over the phone, and I explained that I was waiting to hear back from KS about a position I applied for there. He said they wouldn't hold the position but I could check back with him after I had my interview with KS.

I heard from Kamehameha Schools a few days later. They wanted to do a video conference and suggested I go to a Kinkos to set it up. I suggested Skype and a web cam, but they were unwilling or unable to download any software to their computer. The nearest Kinkos to me that did video conferencing was 2 hours away in Seattle, so that was definitely out. I ended up downloading WebEx which allows you to set up web based meetings, invite participants, and they can view your computer screen (if you like). They can also view you with an attached webcam. They agreed to that scenario if they didn't have to download software or host the meeting. I was all set to go on the day of the interview, but for some reason they couldn't get into the meeting, and I couldn't get my web cam to turn on. So . . . after all that, they did agree to just do a phone interview.

My interview was on April 29th and I felt it went well. They also had me answer an essay question and send it back to them in 30 minutes. It was basically about 5 different philosophies of teaching - I had to pick one, elaborate and say why I chose it.

They told me it would be a couple of weeks before I heard back as they had to check my references and verify my employment history. I was in touch with their Human Resources person off and on for various questions and paperwork I had to fill out. They were very accommodating and responsive in all the emails and phone calls that were going back and forth.
On May 14th, I received my official confirmation of Employment. I am very happy with the position, the salary (over 10% higher than the DOE), and the personnel I have dealt with so far.

The only caveat is that I will be working at a DOE school, and farther away from where I would like to live. This position is a sort of contracted job. I will be working with a team of 4 other KS employees and we will be collaborating at a DOE elementary school and teaching literacy through the content area of science. I will be working in the Puna District in Mountain View about 16 miles south of Hilo. We want to live north of Hilo, so we'll have to keep commuting distances in mind when we are looking for property.

Right now I'm feeling excited and overwhelmed all at the same time!

Aloha for now!

I Have a Job in Hawaii!!

Aloha! A little background about me - I've been wanting to move to Hawaii for almost 20 years. The time is right (for many reasons), and I now have confirmation I have a teaching job starting on July 21, 2008. In less than 2 months, I'll be on the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii employed by Kamahameha Schools as a Literacy Resource Teacher. I currently work as a 4th grade teacher in the Pacific Northwest.

I've decided to start this blog because when I first started doing my research for the move and teaching jobs, I found very little information. I know teachers are busy, but it seemed that the only information out there was from people who had second (or third, or fourth) hand knowledge, or were disgruntled former teachers who had moved back to the mainland or weren't in the teaching profession anymore. I was hoping to find current teachers and/or teachers who had moved from the mainland to teach in Hawaii. It's my hope I can fill that apparent void and take people along on the journey I'm about to embark on.

I'm not going alone - thank goodness! I have my SO, Tim and my two canine kids, Jazmin and Bailey. We are all very excited, energized, and looking forward to the new adventure!

I have three weeks of school left here, report cards to write, a classroom to pack up, a house to sell, reservations to make, and housing to find in Hawaii in less than 2 months! I love a challenge and this is definitely a challenge! Come along for the ride!