Pulling on a 'PUSH' Door: The Paraprofessional Experience

And this job ain't always easy , but it does make for some funny stories . So take a walk with me into the paraprofessional comedy experience as I share some quirky tales about paraprofessionals . God bless them . Now let's get laughing and learning . Attention , students , I mean listeners .

The stories in this podcast are told from the host's personal and varsical point of view . All names and identifiers have been omitted or altered to protect identities . Now get to class and enjoy the show . Hello listeners , welcome back to Vice Principal on Office .

Before we get started on today's stories , I have to tell you I am so happy that we are officially in the month of May . I love May because , as the song goes , it's May , it's May , the end of school , hooray . Yeah . I sang that little ditty since high school when the drama department performed the musical Camelot .

I played the French horn for the musical and it wasn't too long after that my dad shuffled me off to college to major in music and become a band director , but that's a story that we'll have to wait for another day . Oh , I have a few interesting tidbits to share with you before we get started with today's show .

First , I was recently a guest on the Narrow Divergent Synergy podcast . Narrow Divergent Synergy is a company out of London , england . Their work is focused on creating and designing supportive and inclusive spaces for neurodivergent individuals .

I especially appreciate their dedication to helping families and schools create neurodivergent friendly spaces so all students can thrive . You can check out our conversation on the NeuroDivergent Synergy podcast . I've placed the link for this podcast in the episode's show notes .

And secondly , I'm very happy to announce that Vice Principal on Office is nominated for Women Podcasters Awards in Comedy . I love putting this show together and appreciate your support , and I'd appreciate your vote for vice principal on office . The Women Podcasters Awards voting is now open until May 31st . I've included the link to vote on this episode's show notes .

So thank you . In a kid , I had no idea what a paraprofessional was or that they even worked in schools . I knew about the usual jobs a policeman , teacher , doctor or , better yet , an astronaut . Keep in mind . I started school in 1969 , when being an astronaut looked cool and fun and was the job every kid wanted . I mean , have you seen ? I dream of genie ?

Oh , barbara , eden plus my mom . Let me eat space sticks for breakfast . What ? Yes , back in 1969 the pillsbury company actually made an energy breakfast in the shape of a stick for astronauts , and I know this part won't shock you when I tell you that Pillsbury wanted to make money , so they sold their breakfast sticks to the public .

I can still remember the taste of those space sticks . It was like a Tootsie Roll and a protein bar had an identity crisis and fused into one chewy space age snack . And of course , you had to chase your space stick down with some orange Tang .

You know Tang right , it was , and still might be , the official drink of astronauts , six-year-olds on a sugar rush and people who trust powdered mystery substances . Someone needs to bring those space sticks back . My six-year-old brain remembers them being delicious . Hmm , where was I ? Oh , yeah , jobs . So I knew there were other jobs in schools besides teachers .

I saw the school cooks , the secretary and the nurse , and of course I knew there were some kids who visited the nurse all the time , but I only saw the nurse . Once , when I was in eighth grade , I had nearly cut off the tip of my middle finger .

In art class Yep , art class my teacher and the nurse were pretty sure I needed stitches because the chunk of skin from the tip of my middle finger was missing and was a bloody mess . The nurse called my mom , who then came to pick me up , and instead of taking me to get stitches , my mom slapped a band-aid on it and called it a day .

Oh , lisa , you sure can raise my blood pressure . Sorry , mom , but that's what happened . Don't worry , I still love you , though I can still see a faint scar on that finger . Ironically , 45 years later , I snapped the end of that same middle finger while pulling up a knee sleeve over my old arthritic knee .

Let me tell you , getting old is hell , you don't say . As for my busted middle finger , this time I took myself to the doctor and ended up wearing a tiny little blue cast on my knotty finger for six weeks . And I won't lie , I kind of enjoyed flashing my

casted middle finger at people . And if they only knew what I was really thinking when I held't lie , I kind of enjoyed flashing my casted middle finger at people , and if they only knew what I was really thinking when I held it up . By the way , that was the last art class I ever took . Okay , I better get back to jobs .

So I also knew there was a school custodian , but I always thought there was just one . It wasn't until high school , after some late night band concert , that I realized there was an entire crew of night custodians . Clearly , my thoughts about school ended the second that final bell rang and my grades would have agreed .

As for paraprofessionals , I had no clue what that job was or that it even existed . In fact , the first time I heard the word , my brain immediately jumped to something scary from the paranormal world , like something from the Twilight Zone . For you youngsters , that was an eerie TV show from the early 60s , kind of like today's Black Mirror on Netflix .

I know what can I say ? I watched way too much TV as a kid and clearly I still do . Oh , lisa , you know . I also have to admit that until I became a teacher , I had no idea just how essential paraprofessionals were to student success in K-12 public schools .

Hold on , depending on where you went to school , you might call this position a teacher's aid , assistant , associate or teacher helper , but for this episode I'm going to use the title paraprofessional . Why ? Because back in 1965 , president Johnson signed legislation that provided schools with extra funding to support low-income , struggling students .

The idea was that additional help would allow these students to catch up academically with their peers . This legislation was called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act . Was called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and , like most changes in education , this act slowly evolved .

Eventually , thanks to President Obama , the no Child Left Behind Act came along , revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and required schools to continue hiring paraprofessionals to assist struggling students . Much of this identification process was based on standardized test scores and a few other identifiers .

Students needing support were often pulled out of class for their support time . But after decades , schools finally started realizing that struggling learners might actually benefit more from staying in the traditional classroom . I said might . There's a lot of factors that go into that might . Now , I think all of this is great , but here's the kicker .

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act required public schools to hire paraprofessionals who , legally , could not teach students . Yep , you heard that right .

The law stated that paraprofessionals could only support student learning under the guidance of a classroom teacher , which I say great , but get this to be hired as a paraprofessional , all a person needed was a high school diploma or GED .

Yep , that's how I read it in the paraprofessional guidebook sent out by the US Department of Education , which now no longer exists . So paraprofessionals weren't , and still aren't , required to have extensive credentials to work with struggling K-12 students , which , again , I'll try to say great .

Now , before I dive into some wild paraprofessional tales , I just want to say most school paraprofessionals do not get the recognition they truly deserve . These incredible people , many of whom have never taken a single college class on teaching , do everything they can to help struggling students , and I mean everything . I mean everything

Seriously . A paraprofessional's day might involve anything from changing the diaper of a 200-pound post-puberty teenager to managing a second grader's behavior plan as the kid literally tears apart the classroom while trying to bite a chunk out of the poor paraprofessional in between each destruction . I'm not kidding folks .

I've seen a classroom go from intact to disaster zone in minutes , and yet these amazing please-never-quit paraprofessionals keep showing up to school . Why ? Because they love working with kids , even through the messy , chaotic and downright observed moments . These people deserve an extra star in their crown . They really do .

That's why when a school leader finds a gem of a paraprofessional , they'll do anything to keep them . But let's be real , the job is tough . So keeping paraprofessional positions fully staffed is like managing a revolving door . People take the job but then quickly step right back out when they realize what the job actually entails .

To me it's a bit like the hokey pokey . Oh , you know what I'm talking about . You put your candidate in , you take your candidate out , you put another one in and you hope this one's devout Hiring a paraprofessional really causes me to shout . So I'm gonna go get soused . Everyone . You put your candidate , oh , you get the idea .

But I bet there are a lot of school leaders out there who would join me in a sing-along , especially if the getting sous part came first . So I gotta say , while there are plenty of amazing paraprofessionals knocking it out of the park , there are also quite a few wackadoodles who somehow end up in this line of work .

And let me tell you , friends , some of the crazy crap I've seen paraprofessionals do on the job makes me wonder if President Johnson ever stopped to consider any qualifications beyond a high school diploma or GED . Maybe he really thought the job had something to do with the paranormal , who knows ?

But I'm guessing Johnson didn't give two hoots about the job requirements . He probably just signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act , because , well , he was in charge . And that's a whole other story because , shockingly , both political parties found fault with Johnson's act . Yeah , real shocker , right , american politicians disagreeing and stalling progress .

You should know that , according to my research , one party argued the act gave too much control to the states , while the other claimed wait for it the complete opposite . I'm inserting my forehead . Slap here and come to think of it .

Watching today's political leaders try to agree on anything about K-12 public education , or anything for that matter , is like watching a really bad episode of the Twilight Zone or Black Mirror . You pick which show you prefer .

Because no matter what our political leaders eventually decide , if they ever stop dinking around and act like civilized adults representing the American people and modeling good behavior for kids , it's bound to feel like some kind of bizarre paranormal experience , which is why I titled this episode Pulling on a Push Door the Paraprofessional Experience .

Of course , I really wanted to call this episode Hiring a Clueless Paraprofessional is like watching some poor soul try to open the door that says push by pulling . It's painful but you can't look away because you might miss the show . You know , kind of like watching our elected officials . I'm telling you people , you can't make this shit up , you just can't .

Oh good Lord , lisa , I need a nap . I know , mom , I know . Sorry , but some of these paraprofessional stories often left me scratching my head and thinking to myself what in the hell did I just witness ? Just wait , you'll understand what I'm talking about very soon .

So , like I said earlier , as a kid I pretty much assumed that most of the adults I saw during the school day were teachers . But once I crossed over from being a student to a teacher , I quickly learned that there are a lot of moving parts required to keep a K-12 school running and , as I've said before , a school is basically a microcosm of society .

Whatever happens in the real world also happens in a school . The only difference is a school is its own little self-contained society and a few administrators are responsible for making sure all those moving parts stay operational at all times , and that's a huge responsibility for K-12 school leaders K-12 school leaders .

Throughout my career as a vice principal , I had to hire , supervise and , when necessary , fire classified staff , including paraprofessionals . Now that I think about it . I even sat in on paraprofessional interviews back when I was a teacher and counselor . Not sure why , maybe life was foreshadowing my future career path . I think I should have paid better attention .

Anyway , supporting kids in a behavior classroom usually requires a teacher and sometimes multiple paraprofessionals . The only problem it's damn near impossible to get a paraprofessional to stay on the job , which is probably because the work is hard and the pay is low . But be that as it may ,

I remember one paraprofessional interview like it was yesterday . You see , once again the school needed to fill multiple paraprofessional positions , but the candidate pool was tiny . So I crossed my fingers , said a quick Hail Mary and hoped our interview team could find at least one hireable person for our behavior disorder classroom .

So with my interview team ready to roll , I went to greet our first paraprofessional candidate , who at first glance looked to be about 60-ish and honest to God like hell . But me being me , I still welcomed them with a handshake and a warm smile , something I always did to help ease an interviewee's nerves . Interviews can be nerve-wracking for some people .

I then explained the interview process , though in the back of my mind I couldn't help but notice that the person looked completely exhausted but at the same time they were wound up tighter than a squirrel on hazelnut espresso . They were wound up tighter than a squirrel on hazelnut espresso .

Seriously , this candidate was so amped up you could almost see electricity sparking off of them , and I was pretty sure it wasn't just caffeine fueling the level of energy . The whole vibe reminded me of Wren . You know the lanky , lunatic chihuahua from Wren's Stimpy Show . If you don't know what I'm talking about , do yourself a favor and Google it .

Anyway , before we even started the interview , I had to ask this candidate if they were okay Because , aside from being all cotton candy and no carnival , their low scoop shirt made it impossible to miss a huge patch of white gauze taped to their chest . Yeah , some people make some interesting fashion choices for interviews .

I've seen candidates show up in crocs , shorts , skirts way too short and t-shirts with some weird ass saying plastered across the front . My all-time favorite t-shirt saying Easy that was a candidate who walked into their interview wearing a t-shirt that said I live in a van down by the river . We actually hired that person and it turned out to be a great hire .

But most of the time I can't help but wonder did they even glance in the mirror before leaving the house . As for the interview with Wren , the humanoid chihuahua , well , I could look past the white gauze , but their ability to interview , that was a whole different problem . You should know I'm freaking good at interviewing people .

Ask anyone who's ever sat on an interview team with me . If a candidate is nervous and struggling to answer questions , I help them out by prompting them to elaborate , and I smile and nod Anything that helps them shake off the nerves Because , honestly , that's just the right thing to do .

But holy shit people , that interview with Wren was one of the fastest interviews I've ever conducted , and I don't mean to sound mean , but I immediately knew this turbocharged candidate had no business working with school-aged kids and , surprise , surprise , my hunch was confirmed during the required reference check .

Luckily , we had a couple other candidates lined up for the paraprofessional position , because there was no way we could hire old Ren , I mean that candidate and , truth be told , I know some school leaders who never check references or even do a little digging into the adults they're hiring to work with students . Good lord , school leaders do better .

Anyway , we did find a solid candidate for the paraprofessional job , but hiring is just step one , because once a school leader brings in a paraprofessional , they have to train them .

Like I said , a new paraprofessional may or may not have any experience in working with kids and , of course , training takes time and money , two things that schools never seem to have enough of . So , as you can probably guess , k-12 paraprofessional training is limited .

Most paraprofessionals just learn on the job with the help of the classroom teacher and , hopefully , a supportive administrator . And , like any new employee , a new paraprofessional may hit a few bumps along the way , but shit happens , and this kind of shit usually just required me to check in and make sure our new hire was okay or asked if they needed any help .

And while we're on the subject of employees hitting a bump in the road , I'm proud to say that I never got mad or pulled the I'm the queen of the world act with staff by yelling or degrading staff . Why would I ? One , it takes up too much energy . And two , 99% of the time just asking or listening works . And then school life falls back into place .

Life falls back into place . However , every now and then you get a paraprofessional who's a few fries short of a happy meal , which makes for some interesting vice principal correction conversations , and one such conversation well , let's just say it involved underwear . Well , let's just say it involved underwear .

Now , I've already told you about behavior disorder classrooms , but there are also classrooms that help students with not just academics and employability skills , but everyday living skills like learning to cook food in a kitchen

or how to use the toilet independently , or even basic daily tasks like cleaning up after oneself or talking on the phone .

Everyday living skills are something everyone needs , but some students just need a little extra help learning them and , honestly , from what I've seen in today's society , there are plenty of adults who could probably use a freaking refresher course on these skills too .

Anyway , these special classrooms are filled with wonderful students who just need some extra support , which usually requires a teacher and a few paraprofessionals to implement individual student plans that track student progress , which is fantastic , actually collecting data to determine next steps . See , when we know better , we do better most of the time .

Which brings me to a classroom I supervised . This classroom was staffed with a teacher and a few paraprofessionals all great people , even the kids wonderful people but one paraprofessional , who shall be referred to as Barbie , took things to another level without even trying . Barbie was a tiny , confident and undeniably cute person .

Her makeup and hair were always perfect and she had a wardrobe full of short dresses and high-heeled shoes Again with the high heels . At this point in my life I couldn't even try heels without collapsing . Now most of the paraprofessionals in the classroom wore jeans , t-shirts and tennis shoes . Because the job was physical .

The paraprofessionals changed diapers , assisted students from wheelchairs to toilets and helped them onto the floor for needed stretching and class activities . And help them onto the floor for needed stretching and class activities . So one's common sense would dictate dressing appropriately for the job , but not Barbie . She always showed up in a dress and high heels .

Well , one fine day Barbie arrived in a flimsy , almost seethrough dress and , of course , high heels . The adults in the room were a bit concerned because the dress was incredibly shorter than Barbie's usual dress attire . But things got a little awkward when it was time to sit on the floor for a class activity .

When Barbie sat down , her underwear were on full display . The teacher tried to address it , but Barbie didn't think it was a big deal that everyone could see her underwear , so I was called in to handle it .

When I walked in , the room went deadly quiet and of course the adults tried to look busy , but I could tell they were eagerly waiting to see how I would handle the unexpected underwear rebellion . I'm sure there was a bet on whether I'd act with grace or not . As for Barbie's underwear fashion style , let's just say Barbie wasn't wearing granny panties .

You can decide for yourself what style of underwear Barbie chose to wear under her tiny little dress . As for me , as gracefully as I could , my old arthritic knees and I knelt down and whispered in Barbie's ear . Knees , and I knelt down and whispered in Barbie's ear .

I told Barbie that I could see her underwear and that she needed to go home and change immediately . With a perky okay , she jumped up and went home to change . After that , barbie never had another underwear incident , at least to my knowledge .

And not too long after that Barbie decided to leave her paraprofessional job behind and as far as I know , she was not cast as an extra in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie , but she definitely fit the part .

Of course there are other people who take a paraprofessional job because they want to work where their child goes to school , but let's be honest , some of these paraprofessionals are just missing their high school days and want to live vicariously through their DNA trophy .

One such paraprofessional was a person who desperately wanted to work at their child's school , but unfortunately they look like they could have starred in a public service announcement . For why not to do drugs ?

This ragged paraprofessional looked like they had just crawled out of a music festival pit and decided to keep going , because who doesn't want to rock that look five days a week ? But , to the paraprofessionals credit , they were kind to kids and content with their paraprofessional work , as long as it wasn't in a traditional classroom setting .

You see , the problem was the minute this paraprofessional had to support a struggling student in , say , an English class or a math class where the teacher spends a little time delivering whole group lecture , sleepy Pete would fall asleep Yep , you heard it right , sleeping on the job .

One fine day , while Sleepy Pete was perfecting their napping skills in class they actually wait for it fell out of their chair and landed on the floor and , as expected , the kids burst out laughing while the teacher got angry because their riveting lecture had been interrupted .

It wasn't too long after that nap that Sleepy Pete decided to call it quits and moved on to become a sleep coach . No , I'm kidding . I have no idea what happened to Sleepy Pete , decided to call it quits and moved on to become a sleep coach . No , I'm kidding , I have no idea what happened to Sleepy Pete .

Oh , I should probably mention that some schools hire paraprofessionals outside the scope of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act paraprofessional guidelines . These paraprofessionals are paid from a different pot of school money and their job description requires them to work with all types of kids .

They usually end up doing tasks like helping kids open milk cartons at lunch , covering recess duty or supervising study hall duty , or supervising study hall . In fact , one paraprofessional I worked with was hired specifically to supervise in-school suspension . Remember when I said in an earlier episode of Vice Principal in Office how detention duty was one of the easiest

jobs I had ever subbed for ? Well , in-school suspension is a lot like that . The adult supervising in-school suspension basically just needs to keep the kids quiet and ensure they stay awake enough to do their schoolwork and possibly get them more schoolwork when needed .

Truth be told , some kids in in-school suspension are way behind on their assignments due to their good old avoidance behaviors .

Anyway , one paraprofessional I had the pleasure to work with could be found reading a book while supervising in-school suspension , which I get it , but I don't ever think I saw the book boss of isolation actually walk around the room to ensure students were completing their homework or needed more work or , for that matter , even needed help with an assignment .

I'm serious . The book boss of isolation always and I mean always sat at their desk with their nose buried in a book . However , when an administrator or counselor came in to check on a student , the book boss of isolation always shared a glowing report about how well the students were doing with their behavior and their work .

But here's the head scratcher were doing with their behavior and their work , but here's the head scratcher . If the book boss of isolation never walked around the room , how in the hell did they know if the students were actually being productive ? I swear some people will lie about anything to avoid doing their job .

Eventually , the counselors and admin team figured out that we needed to stop by the in-school suspension room at least once a day to see what was really going on . And thank god we did , because I'm telling you folks , kids will try anything if they think no adult is watching or , worse , they'll model the behaviors they see coming from adults .

Well , one day the book boss of isolation was doing a fantastic job of modeling how to read a book for the in-school suspension kids , which in theory is great .

But I think the book boss of isolation forgot to have a conversation with the students about appropriate reading material while serving an in-school suspension , because when a counselor walked through the room she immediately turned around and ran to find me .

Without much explanation , she insisted I follow her back to the in-school suspension room so I could see for myself what one particular student was reading . I quickly followed the counselor and together we quietly entered the in-school suspension room . Casually , we made our way around to see what students were working on . Then we stopped at one kid's desk .

I glanced at the counselor . She gave me a look that screamed you see it right . The kid was deeply engrossed in a book titled how to Make Love Like a Porn Star . It took every ounce of self-control I had not to burst out laughing . I then quietly knelt down beside the student and whispered what are you reading ?

Naturally , as most high school kids , the kid was completely unfazed by my question and , without saying a word , held up their book to show me , to which I then quietly asked think you could maybe do some homework instead the student shrugged and nonchalantly said I already finished everything , just waiting for the book boss of isolation to bring me some more

schoolwork . Now I can't fault the kid for reading , but that book Not exactly ideal for in-school suspension .

And , as you can probably guess , I pulled the book boss of isolation aside for a little boss to employee chat and , as you can also probably guess , the book boss of isolation assured me that they would step up their game of monitoring the students in in-school suspension , which I say great .

But unfortunately that was not the last conversation I had to have with the book boss of isolation , because one day a panicked teacher rushed into my office asking me to check on a student in the in-school suspension room . The teacher had stopped by to explain an assignment but found the student completely sound asleep and impossible to wake .

Of course I hightailed it down the hall and found the kid slumped over their desk , dead to the world . Since this wasn't my first rodeo , I took one look at the nearly empty clear water bottle on the floor next to Sleeping Beauty and took a sniff . Yep , not water . The kid wasn't asleep . They were passed out drunk on vodka .

I then turned to the book boss of isolation and barked , call 911 . We need an ambulance and call the office to let them know what's going on . You wouldn't believe how often an ambulance shows up at a school's main office and no one there even knows there's an emergency happening somewhere in the building . It's like common sense takes a personal day .

When chaos strikes , fight or flight . Folks Fight or flight . Anyway , the in-school suspension room quickly turned into a full-blown chaos carnival . But don't worry , the book boss of isolation remained firmly in their chair , unmoved by the spectacle taking place before them .

Of course , the other adults , who didn't shy away from work , quickly got the totally tanked teenager the emergency help they needed and made sure the rest of the in-school suspension students were both sober and emotionally okay after witnessing what had just gone down .

As for the water bottle of vodka , I have no idea what brand it was , but I can tell you that dumbass teenagers don't exactly have refined tastes . They drink whatever is cheap and gets the job done . Of course , in my distinguished adulthood I've become a bit of a vodka snob and prefer a high-end vodka that is smooth on the palate .

Though , let's be real , a good buzz is always welcomed . And as for the book boss of isolation , they opted to call it quits on their paraprofessional gig and find some other line of work as a certified couch librarian . I'm kidding , I have no idea where the book boss of isolation landed . Bless their little heart .

As you've heard today , the paraprofessional experience can be very entertaining and at times , a little odd . And thanks to President Johnson , k-12 schools get to keep hiring paraprofessionals for jobs candidates may or may not be qualified for .

So until the next US president decides to revise or , worse yet , eliminate the school paraprofessional position , support your school leaders and sing along . You put your candidate in , you take your candidate out , you put another one in , and you hope this one's devout Hiring a paraprofessional really causes me to shout .

So I'm gonna go get soused Better yet I'm gonna go see if I can find some space sticks to eat . Well , kids , the dismissal bell is ringing . So until next time on . Vice Principal on Office , push in your chair , put your name on your paper , be kind to your classmates , put away your phone and use your indoor voice , or not .

Thanks for listening , and I hope you enjoyed the tales from Vice Principal on Office as much as I enjoyed sharing them , and it is also my hope that you were not only entertained by this episode , but that you walked away with a little nugget of knowledge that gave you some insight on how working in a school is not for the faint of heart .

And don't forget , life is short . So you got to do the best you can to leave the world in a better place than when you got here . And , of course , for the love of God , see the humor in life . It's a lot more fun and a little easier to get through the ick in life with a smile on your face .

Trust me , with what I've experienced throughout my career , I'd be like a scrappy aged lady with enough sass to knock over a bookshelf with just one look , if I hadn't decided to smile through the ick Next time on . Vice Principal in Office .

Join me your host , lisa Hill , as I recall some very memorable substitute teachers and the quirkiness they brought to the classroom , from puking to magic shows . There are some substitute teachers who seem to be able to do it all , except for the one thing they were hired to do Teach . So tune in May 20th to hear substitutes gone wild while students just smiled .

Until then , keep laughing and learning . Hey , students , I mean listeners . Thanks again for tuning in and

if you've enjoyed today's show , please leave me a review . It really helps grow the show . And don't forget to hit the follow button so you don't miss an episode . Trust me , you don't want to be late for this detention and listeners . If you've got a school story of your own that you think would fit Vice Principal on Office , I'd love to hear it .

Just head to my podcast website and email me your story and , who knows , your story might even get a shout out in a future episode . Thanks so much for listening and for your support . Vice Principal on Office is an independent podcast with everything you hear done by me , lisa Hill , and supported through Buzzsprout .

Any information from today's show , along with any links and resources , are available in the show's notes . So if you want to do a little homework and dive deeper into anything I've mentioned , head over to my podcast website and check it out . And a big thank you to Matthew Chiam with Pixabay for the show's marvelous theme music .

And , of course , a huge shout out to my mother . This podcast is for the purpose of entertainment only , like the recess of your day , and not a platform for debates about public education Though you never know , you could learn something .

And just a reminder that the stories shared in this podcast represent one lens which is based on my personal experiences and interpretations , and also reflect my unique perspective through humor . Names , dates and places have been changed or admitted to protect identities and should not be considered universally applicable . Until next time , keep laughing and learning .