Kontan’s Place

A nibble!

We have been highly stressed that the house wasn’t being shown enough. Nothing against the realtors, but the market just isn’t that great and interest hasn’t been there. Not many people want to be buying a house that is 10 miles out when gas is $3/gallon. I don’t know, maybe it is just the time of year. That is a big factor I’m sure. Anyway, the girls rallied Friday and helped me get the house ready to show late that afternoon. Today we receive a call saying they want a reshow in 30 minutes. Ummmm…sure. Eeeeek! The girls rallied again and we had it ready. Turns out it was worth the effort! We had an offer. Pray that negotiations go well and we get a SOLD sign. Jem says I should have faith and patience. I have faith, but I’m a little short on patience.

pssst, in that prayer, add that I need to hear back on the interviews from last week and want the one where I did my internship. Thanks!

Reflection

It’s 12:05 AM and I’m dreadfully tired but I can’t sleep. I’ll catch up this weekend. This week has been good. With two interviews I feel like I’m at least doing something to make things happen. Djembe started work in the new city. He’s been there some and here some. Several good prospects have come to light. We’ll see how many lights stay on. I really want the first interview job, but do not believe that it will happen. It irks the snot of me that coaches dominate the social studies scene. There is such an academic push, but if there is a coach schools want to go that route. Not that there aren’t good teachers who can coach, but too many times they put coaching first and teaching second. It’s like a coach/teacher told me this past year. Which of my roles is going to get me fired if performance is not top notch? COACHING!

THS lost another teacher this week. No murder or suicide involved. He died of a heart attack. Truly sad. He was a great teacher and a good man. I was shocked to find out. He had just returned from a trip to Paris where he had chaperoned students. (He taught French.) Because he had lunch duty I saw him frequently. The last time we spoke he wished me well with leaving THS and starting a new chapter of our life. THS lost a good teacher. He was one who cared about his students and treated everyone with respect. He was friendly and just an all around good guy. I know that death is part of life, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.

Had an interview

It was a LONG day. I made it to LC in time to grab lunch and make it to the interview with time to spare.

When I went to the board of education and signed in it wasn’t long before someone came out to say they were way behind and would resume interviews at 2:00 “go find something to do.” I hadn’t talked to BG in a while so I thought it would be a good idea to see if he was around. As I head out to my car the same guy who told us to find something to do caught up with me and said we would start back at about 15 til. Not a problem. I call BG, find out if he has any pull with anyone, then head back to the central office. When I go back in others who didn’t go anywhere are answering the written portion of the interview. I asked about it and just said oh well I will take care of it at the end. One guy tries to be cool about it and asks if I want to see the questions so I “have an edge.” Uh. . .no. The guy was so full of himself it was almost amusing, but annoying. You know the type. There’s something to be said about confidence but there is such a thing as going too far with it. Anyway, long story less long…admin guys kept coming out apologizing for how long it was taking. They were interviewing everyone for all positions that day and using the panel style interview. You wen tin the room and had ten people asking you questions. Finally, and by finally I mean 4 PM, they split the panel to speed things up. (They had interviewed 40 people for the elementary positions that morning, and had probably 25 or so for the social studies, math, and band director positions that afternoon.) After they split the panel I was the third person in. There were four people on my panel. They asked four questions and it seemed like rapid response interview time. It was obvious they wanted to cut to the chase and get this over with. I answered each as in depth as I could and as quickly as possible. They seemed to respond well and appreciate my answers and they said it was a good interview. The principals reserved the right to call with more questions if they felt it necessary. I was in and out in about ten minutes. Yes, I managed to get BG’s name into the conversation. He apparently knows several that were doing the interviews and said he would put in a word. I seriously hate the political aspect of this, but you have to play the game if you hope to win. :-/ Dagnabit I want to be hired on my merit! I was for UNA so *wah* guess that will have to do.

You know how you question yourself after an interview and think of something you should have said or how you should have phrased something better? Well, I didn’t do that. I answered honestly on each question and I think the answers were satisfactory. They asked me to explain my educational and professional background, what a typical day was like in my class, how students would know I care, and how I would help improve their social studies test scores.

I don’t know if I want this job or not, but I think the interview went well. With so many ties to LC it wouldn’t surprise me if it was offered. Strange and amusing story, I’ll have to share it for our 12th anniversary coming up soon. Will I take it? Yes, if BHS isn’t offered I probably will. I really want the job at BHS.

Total disservice

How many is too many? Regarding what? Anything. In this case, how many is too many chances? How many times do we allow students to redo an assignment? How many times do we beg them to complete an assignment? How long do they get to complete make-up work when they are absent? We have a make-up policy. Why is it not a strict policy? How many times do we beg them to attend grade recovery?

Isn’t it our responsibility to teach students to be responsible? Isn’t part of being responsible completing your work, on time? I firmly believe that students deserve a second chance. I have given my students numerous opportunities to redeem themselves. Why is it that we now HAVE to give them another chance? They’ve had second, third, and fourth chances. Now we do it again? Now we pay for it? Pay for extended school. Pay for summer school. Pay for the transportation. Pay for the snack. Pay for the teachers to do it. At least they ARE willing to pay teachers. I just feel like they are flushing money down the toilet. I know, I know…NCLB. These kids aren’t being left behind, they jumped off the bus.

At what point do we let them fall on their behind and become accountable for their actions…or lack there of? I don’t get it! I just don’t. I have given them at least three specific opportunities to make up ANY zero on their grade report. In addition, all students below 70 at term 3 were given a folder with all recovery work in it. They signed a contract saying they would do the work, come to tutoring, complete all work from here out, and not be a behavior problem. Most didn’t fully keep the agreement or they didn’t complete the entire folder. I gave credit for what they did do. Some didn’t bother to do the recovery work. I’ve given two extra credit projects. Only five takers on those.

Here we are with two weeks left and we have to do it all again. Forget the fact that some haven’t done a blasted thing for 16 weeks and they’ve done everything in their power to make life hell for teachers and classmates. I know I am lacking in compassion here, but I’m fed up. We are doing a complete disservice to these kids by not holding them accountable and by teaching them that you don’t have to do anything during the regular year because we will give you extended school if you will complete everything in a few days time.

It’s just wrong. It is also a load of work to do at a time when life is stressful enough.

Case closed.

Despite what my posts may seem like not much has changed at THS. We go about our daily routine. A sub is upstairs. The students don’t ask questions. They know we can’t give them many answers anyway. They know how things are. They usually know more than we do about situations going on. A student asked me today if she could borrow my computer to look for an article on Mrs. Beatty. This was my cue that there was something new. I checked at lunch. From what I gather she left a letter after the first suicide attempt. It may answer a few questions, but it raises more. The rumors seem to be true and just as bizarre as we thought them to be. It is there son that I feel terrible for. I often say that more times than not the public is only given part of the story. The full story must be something to raise an eyebrow about.

Here’s the latest…and possible last:

Beatty death case could be closed today

5/4/2007 12:52:59 AM
Daily Journal

By Lena Mitchell
Daily Journal Corinth Bureau

IUKA - Corinth police released a statement from Dorothy “Anne” Beatty saying her husband Donald Beatty’s death was accidental, but authorities say the investigation disproves this claim.

Corinth investigators expect to close the file soon - perhaps later today - on the suspicious death of Donald Beatty of Corinth.

Most questions had been answered by the time the body of his wife, Dorothy “Anne” Beatty, was found in McNairy County, where her death was ruled a suicide, said Corinth chief of detectives Capt. Ralph Dance. Anne Beatty was considered a prime suspect in Don Beatty’s death.

However, detectives in the Tishomingo County Criminal Investigation Division had laid the foundation of the case between April 9, when Don Beatty’s body was found, and April 18, when the case was handed off to the Corinth Police Department after evidence indicated Don Beatty’s death occurred in Corinth.

The Tishomingo County case remains open until Corinth closes its case file on Don Beatty’s death, said Detective Don Kirk, who with Det. Jeff Sparks led the Tishomingo County Sheriff Department’s investigation.

Kirk and Sparks revisited the scene Thursday where Don Beatty’s body was found by fishermen near the boat ramp on the north end of Scruggs Bridge, on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

Fishermen who found him had not removed the body from the water, Sparks added.

Don Beatty’s body was fully clothed, but he had no identification.

“There was massive head trauma visible, which could have been accidental or purposeful,” Kirk said. “Our procedure is to treat such a death as suspicious pending further investigation.”
continue reading »

Updated thoughts

The story is below.

This is still shocking. The article below does not paint her in a good light and it even indicates, IMO, that she had been planning this. Yes, she sold her horses, but there is more to that story. Yes, I think he was going to leave her. It is believed he was having an affair, but you don’t find that mentioned in the article. You know, IF he was, I think she was the type that would say get out, and make his life hell for the rest of it…not end it early. Even if it is true that she did this, and all evidence seems to indicate that it is, it is hard for me to believe she acted alone. You know, she came to school last year with a black eye and when someone asked about it she said he did it, but promised he would never again. The police are ready to close this case and it is very convenient that their main suspect is dead as well.

I really don’t think our school has done a good job handling the teachers. Nothing has been said to us, or done for us with regard to coping. We are doing well and someone has been permanently placed in her room, but we are still in shock. A member of our faculty is gone. A member of our building is gone. They didn’t move away. She killed herself! AND she is accused of murdering her husband. HELLO! Some of us saw this woman everyday and we had lunch with her. No, we were not in danger from her, not at all. But she was a colleague and for some a friend. Teachers, even though they have their differences, have a common ground. It seems when I am traveling I can find other teachers to talk to. We have personalities that attract other teachers. Maybe I am the only one that sees it that way, but it is what I have experienced. When in a group of people that I do not know I am not comfortable. I can usually find at least one to talk/relate to and that one, more times than not, turns out to be a teacher.

In my building a teacher is gone and there is a void.

Beatty deaths: Police seek to be sure about details

5/2/2007 1:36:39 AM
Daily Journal

By Lena Mitchell
Daily Journal Corinth Bureau

CORINTH - Officials expect to close the Don Beatty homicide investigation by the end of the week, the lead investigator says.

“What I’m doing now is making sure there’s not any accomplice out there,” Corinth chief of detectives Capt. Ralph Dance said earlier this week. “I don’t think anybody helped her, but I’m still looking at bank records, phone records, to make sure nobody else helped her.”

The body of Don Beatty’s wife, Tupelo High School teacher Dorothy “Anne” Beatty, 59, was found Thursday on private property in McNairy County, Tenn. A coroner ruled that she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

When her body was found, Dance said, he was pretty certain Don Beatty’s homicide had been solved. His wife had been a suspect in the case.

It was not her first try, Dance revealed: Anne Beatty had made another suicide attempt - overnight April 17-18 - and he thought “it was only a matter of time” before she’d succeed. No suicide note was found after either incident, he said.

The body of Don Beatty, 65, was found the morning of April 9 in shallow water near the Scruggs Bridge boat ramp on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in Tishomingo County.

A coroner’s examination determined he had not drowned but had died from a blow to the head. Further investigation led to the Beattys’ home on North Polk Street in Corinth as the site of his death.

Although Anne Beatty was 5-feet-5-inches tall and weighed 135 pounds, police believe she was alone in carrying her husband’s body - he was 5-feet-9-inches and weighed 165 pounds - and disposing of it in the water “based on what information we were able to gather from her house and different places,” Dance said.

Couple in trouble
Interviews with family and friends indicated the couple had experienced marital problems the past couple of years.

“He told her about the first of April he was going to leave her, which is what I consider the motive behind all this,” Dance said.

continue reading »

Consuming reality

Friday I made sure I could watch the news at 5, 6 and 10. It seems that the original story that indicated the murder was solved since his wife committed suicide changed to ongoing investigation that wasn’t even news worthy (sensational) enough to make the news. I can’t imagine the damage that the first story did. Our students weren’t told cause of death and they certainly weren’t told she was suspect. They go home and they hear the first news story that is sensationalized? And OH I HATE the news guys voice that makes everything so broadcaster like. Yellow journalism at its finest sometimes.

Today, it isn’t even a story listed on the website of the local paper. Not a story on the TV station site that originally broke the story. And not in their hometown paper either. Funny how things tend to disappear when you jump the gun.

It is very strange how something that will impact us for the rest of the year is no longer a story. Not that I want it to be, but there is a need to know the truth. I can’t imagine tomorrow. Will the students ask questions that we can’t answer? Have they had enough time over the weekend to forget about it? I’m not ask shocked as I was Friday and Saturday. Friday I was blind sided by the information. I wish I knew what to expect tomorrow and how to deal with it.

Shocked and in disbelief

Here is the news story that explains this post: (click)

This was a teacher at my high school- in my building, upstairs. We had the same afternoon off period, the same lunch period, so I saw her daily. With over 150 faculty at THS, and 17 buildings, there are people that I haven’t seen this year. Our ninth grade building was close. It is the only building on campus housing a single grade. We teach the same kids and we operate almost as a separate school. When we found out that Mrs. Beatty lost her husband to suspicious circumstances it touched all of us. She hadn’t been to school since her husbands death and the science dept was stepping up to fill the void. With state tests coming up this past week it was necessary for everyone to pitch in.

We knew that she was not doing well with the death of her husband. This seemed understandable, they had been married for 23 years. When we found out Friday that she committed suicide we were shocked. How were we going to handle this? The students had to be informed. What was the best way? It was decided that the teachers would tell their classes and we were given a statement. It did not include the manner of death. At that time we didn’t know that she was suspect.

It was only at the end of the day that we discovered the news stories that implicated her in the death of her husband. Students had been speculating all day, many had apparently received texts about the story because they were asking us if it was true. We were having to say that we didn’t know anything more than what we told them and if they had questions they needed to speak with the counselor or ask their parents.

I do not agree with the fact that we withheld information from our students. We were not to tell them that she committed suicide. Instead they had to find out from the rumor mill and from news reported that evening. Not only did they find out that their science teacher was dead, they had to find out that it was of her own doing, AND that she was allegedly involved in the murder of her husband.

In dealing with grief and shock it is helpful to talk about the situation with others who are also facing it. I think the manner in which we handled this was not one where we fostered trust with our kids. Their trust in one teacher was already shattered. I really don’t know a better way. I do know that the teachers in my building are really struggling with the shock. Our building administrator is too.

We are not supposed to discuss things concerning the school outside of school. That’s why this post is private.

Here is admins news response and it is how the rest of us remember her as well:

Tupelo teacher remembered as cooperative, professional

4/28/2007 12:15:17 AM
Daily Journal

By Danza Johnson
Daily Journal

TUPELO - High school principal Mac Curlee on Friday remembered Dorothy Anne Beatty as cooperative, professional and a good teacher.

Beatty, a 59-year-old biology and science skills teacher, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday in McNairy County, Tenn. Corinth police described her Friday as a “suspect” in the death of her husband, Don Beatty, a few weeks ago.

She had been a teacher at Tupelo High School since January 2005.

Curlee said Beatty was an easy teacher to work with.

“She was a very cooperative teacher,” he noted. “She had an assignment a couple of years ago that required her to move from class to class. Usually that means going across the hall, but she had to move from building to building and it wasn’t a short walk. She took the assignment professionally and with a smile on her face.”

Describing her as very professional with students and staff, he remember her as “very conscientious about her work and gave full effort.”

Students and staff were told about Beatty’s death after lunch. Curlee said several students visited school counselors after hearing the news.

Beatty graduated from Corinth High School in 1965. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University in 1972 and did some course work at the University of Mississippi. Before joining the staff at Tupelo High School, she’d taught at Southside High School, Alcorn Central and Corinth High. She also taught in Ft. Walden, Fla.