Wednesday, October 26, 2005

I'm in a Daze... but it's not from Decadron!

This afternoon at a school wide assembly a bunch of people from the Colorado Department of Education gave a give presentation to our whole school. As the assembly went on it became clear that one teacher in the school would be getting an award... a big award. They talked about the trip to Washington D.C., the black tie banquet in Denver and then started to add zeros to the dollar amount of the cash prize. 25, 250, 2500... then another zero, $25,000. Some teacher in our building was going to get 25k for teaching! I started to think who it was going to be... Dr. Madden? Some elementary teacher?... as they rolled out the giant check with the name on it I couldn't believe my eyes... It was my name, Mark Schreiber. They called my name and my body stopped working as hamsters started running faster on their wheels to try to power up my brain. I think my thought process was something like this..."my name was just called".... "there seems to be writing on a giant check up there with my name on it"... processing.... processing..."I think I may need to walk up there"... processing..."everyone is looking at me"... processing... "ya, that really is my name"... it seemed like forever, but somehow the message finally got to my feet and I started to walk towards the Department of Ed. folks to shake some hands.



Shocked is about the most mild way to put this, dazed may be a better term. Me? A National Teacher of the Year? One of 2 recipients in Colorado this year? 25 grand cash award? A trip to Washington D.C. and a black tie event in Denver? Crazy stuff. Slowly but surely it is sinking in. And yes, I think I'm still blushing.



You know just a few days ago I was looking at a large stack of medical bills and looking at our budget wondering how as a teacher I was going to pull this all off. As you can imagine, I was getting pretty stressed too. I try to depend on God in all of this stuff with Abby, but sometimes I just don't do a very good job with that. I was thinking how I was never going to be able to make this work, and then 2 days later this happens. This type of stuff seems to happen a lot and still I doubt God's provision in my families life... So much blessing on our family from friends, from our family, from my school, from all of you that faithfully read my ramble and pray for my daughter... man! I am a very lucky guy.



Thanks again for all of your prayers, support, love and compassion on my family! We definitely feel loved!

6 comments:

H. West said...

Wow! I don't even know what to write, except I wish I still was at Frontier just so I could have been there today. Tonight and lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about whether or not I trust God for big things, especially as I reflect on my own life right now. Anyway, I don't think there is any teacher who deserves this more, so congratulations! I'm so glad to have the privledge of journeying with you to share in the amazing things God is doing in your lives. I think this might qualify as not "living lame" as someone we know likes to say!

Congrats again,
Heidi

Anonymous said...

Wow! Contratulations. It is so cool to see how God is working in your family.

Christina F

Anonymous said...

Who ever said that it doesn't pay to be a teacher! Mark, you are such an incredible blessing to the students who encounter you day in and day out. As a fellow teacher, I know the sacrifices you make in your life to breathe knowledge and life expereince into your students. You deserve this in a MAJOR way! I am beyond excited and so proud of what you do! Congratulations! DC BABY!!! You guys are going to have such a great time. Oh yeah, and the money is great too! God Rules!

Love you,
Megan

Anonymous said...

Not bad for an ole fire eater!!! Good grief, I am sooo happy for you and your family! Obviously, you will put the well deserved $$ to good use, but, more importantly, you REALLY deserve this honor, Mark! Your faith, love of kids and education is so very evident! God bless you, dear! (man, that sounds old! oh well, maybe it is!) But I love you and Tiff AND the girls and I'm just overwhelmed with thankfulness for this tremendous blessing in your lives. Now, go enjoy yourselves!
Love,
Claud

Anonymous said...

My oh My! Grand Salomi! You hit the jackpot and I am sure that you deserve it. Cant wait to spread the word to our classmates. I would put in for a raise. Tell them you are gonna move to P.T. and teach if they don't give it. So how did you fit that check in your wallet? I am sooo glad to see that karma works. Congrats buddy boy!

Noah and Caitlin

Meredith said...

I am so so happy to hear of this blessing in your life.

You and your family are being held gently In the Light,

Meredith