We Wish! But Thankful, Nonetheless. The @cwpfairfield office is slowly reopening. We'll Get There

Note: This is not the CWP-Fairfield Office. I wish it was, but it is not. This last summer, because of spatial issues, the CWP-Fairfield office was taken away by the University and all belongings had to be moved to the storage closet that was chosen for us to work.

Sadly, at this time, the administrative assistant moved on to additional work, so I managed to salvage the computer to my home, taking on another job in addition to the three jobs I currently have. It's been hard, but I've managed, and this semester I finally got a graduate assistant, and yesterday, we tackled the closet.

To the chagrin of colleagues in our hallway, we removed the warehouse that became that space (an office put into the K-12 outreach office) into the hallways of Donnarumma. This included files and teacher resources since 1985. My graduate assistant, a self-proclaimed Virgo, said, "Organization is in my genes" and within 6 hours she found a way to get the majority of CWP's history into the space she'll use to keep the work afloat. The rest of it needs to be transported to the garage on Mt. Pleasant. I am forever thankful to the spatial intelligence of this graduate student and the fact that we now will have a central location to implement the $120,000 in grants that we've received so far this year.

CWP-Fairfield operates in collaboration with Connecticut K-12 schools and our materials are the materials of superintendents, administrators, teachers, and students all across the state. Our mission is to be a liaison between a University and the local K-12 districts. The history is phenomenal, the research superb, and the work incredible. I am looking forward to another summer of incredible work now that we have a semi-functioning space to answer the 1,000 emails and letters that have come our way (we'll get that phone...I'm sure we will).

I'm just thankful to have an assistant who will be able to help implement the grants and work that we do. I am counting my blessings to be so lucky. Of course, I've also learned that my OWN office will be closed this summer because of renovation to remove mold that has made several individuals sick. That's good, but I have no idea where I'll land (or the programs for 37 teachers and over 200 youth that have been funded).

Ah, we live. We learn. And we get older. That's all we can say. I definitely am aging with this work I love. I just wish that the vision I have for kids and teachers was shared with the priorities of others.