I am contemplating getting a Mac Mini for my desk when Apple updates the hardware next and a Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook w/ the iPad for mobile travel purposes. As much as I want another MacBook, I just can’t justify it when all I did was run Chrome on the thing. Of course, $449 for a Chromebook is a bit ridiculous, but I want something ultra without the $800 price tag.
Today was my last day at East Side. The hardest part about today was leaving my team behind. I have watched them come alive these past few months. They are moving forward in the right direction and I know they will continue being dedicated professionals in my absence. I myself did very little to get them back on track. I was so engrossed in unraveling the morass of issues that all I really had time to do was give them some purpose and a general direction and they did all the rest.
I was only there four months. Not long enough for real change, but long enough I hope to open some eyes and show some possibilities. Sometimes things just don’t work out. In this case, my position became untenable for me personally. Rather than suffer through, I accepted an opportunity to move on to where I can follow my passion, which is putting technology into teacher’s and student’s hands and helping chart a course through the change that is happening in education today.
This was not an easy decision. There is so much potential at East Side. Perhaps with the upcoming leadership change things can get better but I learned a long time ago, life is too short to stay in unhappy places. So Monday I get to start again with a new District. I already have a better feeling about leadership support and alignment of values and vision and I am very excited to get started.
There is a saying I’ve been hearing a lot lately; “Right Way, Wrong Way, East Side Way”. I’m pretty sure I chose the right way this time. A special shout out to my awesome Administrative Secretary, who helped keep me out of trouble these past four months. And to the entire team. Keep moving forward!
Nice post. Good luck. Thanks for making a difference in the lives of students, teachers, and the world. (Going to ‘borrow’ and reconfigure ‘East Side Way’. Nice.
Good luck Andrew. I’m with you. I’ve always lived by the motto, “I work to live, not live to work.” If you don’t like working someplace you MUST find something else. Life is definitely too short. Take it from someone who’s on the short side of life.
We miss you a LGHS
What is the East Side way?!
I’m not sure.
Andrew Schwab, 
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