Swapping jobs

Jefferson teachers, staff swap jobs as Education Week comes to a close

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Students walking into the cafeteria at Jefferson Elementary School Friday during the lunch hour were surprised by a sight not normally seen on a regular school day.

Their principal, Tanya Schull, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, was mopping the floors. At the same time, the person who normally performed those tasks, school keeper Brenda Blank, wearing a full-length gray dress, was greeting them and serving food.

The job switch, known as a my job/your job exchange, was done as part of National Education Week at Jefferson Elementary.

"It has been fun," Schull said. "It's a different routine, but it is an important task that needs to be performed. I love to clean, and it's great wearing jeans to school. This is more who I am."

For Blank, getting to dress up to go to work was a different experience, which made it interesting for her.

The program was started through a committee known as instructional strategy. The idea behind the program was to help teachers, and other staff members, appreciate the jobs done by their colleagues, physical education teacher and coordinator Anita Longtin said.

"I switched jobs with a special education assistant for a day, which was quite the experience for me," she said. "I learned that it takes a lot of patience to be a special education teacher. The person I switched with didn't realize how physical my job was."

The exchange was open to all staff members, and about 22 participated. They will spend an afternoon later in the year to share what they learned and plan a similar event for the spring, she said.

"I think it went well overall," music teacher and coordinator Pat Nelsen said. "It has been really well-received this week and was enjoyable for the students as well as us."

The committee made the decision to do this during National Education Week because it gave more emphasis to the importance of teachers and school employees, she said.

She switched places earlier in the week with the library/media specialist, which was quite the experience for her, although the routines are fairly similar.

"Most of us were happy to go back to our regular job after we were done," she said. "It does make us appreciate our jobs that much more and helps us respect the job of others as well. Now, more staff are wishing they had signed up for the exchange."

Physical education teacher Todd McKeeth switched places with third grade teacher Dawn Portner on Wednesday, where he spent the time teaching mathematics and language arts.

"It was really fun to help the children with something different for a change," he said. "It was definitely a different routine for me to spend three hours with the same group of students. Participating helped me not only do something different, but it helped me see the same students in a different light."