Erin finished up school on Friday, ending her ride on this year’s academic merry-go-round some three weeks early via maternity leave. Baby’s due somewhere in the June 11-17 range, but as one might expect it’s getting harder for Erin to do things with her normal vim and vigor, so early exit made a lot of sense. Having a little extra family time before Baby #3 ain’t such a bad idea either.
The upside about next year is that the money should be good. Despite some consideration of doing a part-time gig, it looks like it will be full-time employment for Erin come next fall. After a class this summer, she’ll be moving over to the final pay column (MA + 45 graduate credits), advancing an experiential pay row on the salary grid, and seeing an extra 2.5 percent pay increase from the union’s bargaining a year or so ago. All of that is the good news.
The bad news is that early indications are that for the first time in her career she will not be teaching French. The way the student numbers and the teaching assignments look to be working out, it simply doesn’t appear like the option will be there for her. That’s not necessarily a tragedy, but I’m sure it will take her a little getting used to.
In the meantime, of course, SUMMER!