River Brown

We may not have awards ceremonies or big galas, but who needs it? You know what we have? We have hugs from children. They might have dirty hands and funny smells, but they give us hugs.

Perhaps our work facilities don’t have large communal kitchens with granite counters and natural light streaming through huge windows, but that’s because we don’t need it. We have lunch in a rush anyway and we always eat beside our colleagues who share with us their own natural light.

So along with no kitchen we also don’t have an on site gym or a “play room,” but once again we don’t need these. Gym? HA! Standing, walking, talking, moving stuff up and down on the walls is enough exercise – you give it a try. You try corralling 20 some kids and teaching them stuff and then come and tell me you don’t feel “worked out.” As for the play room, once the door closes, that’s it, you ARE in the play room.

Oh you wanna talk about the breakfast bar or the free ice cream sandwiches doled out every Wednesday? You can keep it! We have bona fide cafeteria food that offers things like waffle sticks, crustless PB & J, and mini pizzas loaded with so much cheese that it can be removed in one large pancake like thingy. And on real special occasions, we get authentic food, made by hand and brought in by the parents and community who appreciate all we do.

Perhaps we don’t cruise around in fancy SUV’s, large and black, but we’re happy with our economical cars. They may not attract the attention of paparazzi or give the hint that someone famous is cruising around, but we don’t do what we do for attention. We don’t care if at the moment we step out of our vehicles, there aren’t flashing lights, it’s ok we don’t like that jazz anyway. What we get are 20 some sparkly eyes focused on us, thirsty for learning and ready to stretch themselves as far as we want. That is much better than any fancy car, no matter how large or how deeply tinted the windows are.