Ever since the provincial government announced its intentions to amalgamate school divisions in the province, I knew that my job would no doubt change in some fashion. After all, it’s hard to be Technology Coordinator for Gull Lake School Division when there’s no more Gull Lake School Division.Throughout the fall and spring, I made a couple attempts to position myself in a job within the new Chinook School Division, something that I thought would be suitable and interesting. Those attempts weren’t entirely successful, but I managed to draw enough attention to myself that I finally landed something.

Starting in the fall, I will be classified as a “Technology Catalyst Teacher,” a vague and non-descriptive title. Essentially, I will be in charge of professional development, as it relates to technology, in an area just a bit larger than PEI. I’m not exactly sure which schools I will be responsible for right now, but it will probably include Shaunavon, Eastend, Frontier, Climax, Ponteix and Val Marie. Whether or not Gull Lake, Tompkins, and Hazlet (my old stompin’ grounds) will be in the mix is still up for grabs. I may find out in a meeting on Tuesday.

Needless to say, this will see me on the road considerably more than I have been. It also means that I will no longer be teaching in the classroom. For various reasons, I’m content with leaving the classroom behind, marking being high on the list, but I’m not necessarily excited about the time on the road, particularly if the winter turns nasty. Technically, I’m working out of Shaunavon, but right now, they don’t have office space to accommodate me there, so I may maintain an office in Gull Lake in the short term.

As a result of these changes, and how little time I will actually be spending in Gull Lake, I have told the Outdoors Club students that I can’t see how I would be able to continue with that program next year That didn’t make them too happy especially because Chris Siemens, who has been looking after the Jr. program for the past couple of years, is on an educational leave next year. So it may well be that there will be no Outdoors Club next year. That’s not something that thrills me, but I’m going to have to suck it up and live with it, since it would just be such a huge hassle to try to continue in absentia. I had been getting used to the idea of letting go in a couple of years, so now I just have to distance myself a little earlier, I guess.

In short, I’m looking forward to the work, and the driving doesn’t bother me, provided the weather holds out. We’ll have to see how it goes.