We are in the midst of interviewing and watching demonstration lessons by prospective math teachers. There are a total of four openings at both high schools, possibly a fifth open upcoming. It is difficult to find good math teachers because so much better money is available in industry for math majors, so as soon as we find a good candidate we offer them a job immediately. One of the problems is that two of our better candidates have not yet gotten back their results for the statewide Praxis test, which is required passing for any prospective teachers, and the Board of Education cannot even consider a candidate who has not passed yet. So things are really up in the air right now.

The school newspaper did not publish an issue this entire year for reasons I would rather not discuss here. The newly-appointed editor is good though, and our first issue came out this week. However, due to a miscommunication, an article which should have been returned to its writer for revision was accidentally published on the front page with a very inflammatory headline. The administration is upset, but my real worry is what happens if the Board of Education or community see the article and go berserk? Fortunately, I am relatively near the end of my teaching career, so nothing much can really happen to me because of the goof. However, my poor co-advisor is much younger with 30 years ahead of her.

What I’m reading now: Stanley Stewart’s Frontiers of Heaven, which chronicles his travels from Shanghai along the Great Wall to the Silk Road, finishing in Central Asia. It is a good book, with discussion of the culture of those regions, but it is not nearly as deep or insightful as Fei Fei’s book-in-progress, based on her year doing research into Tibetan medicine. Hopefully, she and I will finish editing the book this summer and begin sending it to prospective publishers.