Welcome to Cleveland Mississippi

So, as most of you may know I have been given the privilege and great honor to work with Teach For America in Nashville, Tn for the next couple years (new address is 3104 Blakemore Ave-hence the creative title.) So, after two weeks of laying on the beach and soaking up enough sun to last me the rest of the summer I attempted to pack up most of my life from Chesapeake and began my journey down south. After a week of Induction (AKA an introduction to this powerful movement, a new city, and 100 fellow Corps members) we packed up, yet again, and headed even further south to Cleveland, Mississippi. Try moving 6 garment bags, 3 duffle bags, 2 backpacks, 1 large suitcase and a laundry basket full of necessities in 95 degree weather up and down 2 flights of steps 3 times in the last week for fun!

To be honest, I was not exactly looking forward to spending the next 5 weeks of my summer in the Mississippi Delta for a number of reasons- 100 degree weather with an ungodly amount of humidity, enough mosquito bites to play connect the dots on my legs, and hour long bus rides at 6am everyday. However, as I rolled up to Delta State University, home of the Fighting Okra late this afternoon my perceptions were completely changed. We were greeted by numerous volunteers from the community with open arms and welcoming smiles. Even the clerk at Walmart asked if we were TFA corps members and said thank you for teaching in the Delta this summer. I learned that we get discounts at pretty much everywhere, from all you can bowl and drink for $10 to 20% off at the coffee shop down the street to free sweet tea at Crawdads!

I am so excited not only for all that our students are going to learn in our long days of summer school, but also for all that I am going to learn from this unique community and culture. As my alarm goes off tomorrow morning at 4:30 I will look forward to learning what classroom I am in for the summer and more about my teaching team. I know my days will be pretty busy, but I plan to blog as often as possible to keep everyone up to date! Thank you for joining me on this great adventure...I look forward to all the peaks and valleys along the way.