"I Need Money"

Life as a teacher has treated me quite well, despite its ups and downs.  As a resource teacher, I work with students that have mild to moderate disabilities, primarily learning disabilities.  My current position also calls for me to work with students qualified as "Title I", or those who come from low-income families.  Although I have thoroughly enjoyed my position with these kiddos, I must admit that I learn more from my students on a daily basis than I truly think they learn from me, especially in the area of valuing money.

Take for example one of my students, who we'll call Joey.  Joey comes from a home with a single-mother who works very hard to provide for her four children, but ultimately they go without many of the extras that so many kids seem to have these days.  I have been teaching students about money lately in my math classes, and as a system to both teach them about money planning and to reward good behavior, I "paid" the students with school money based on their hard work and following of my expectations on a daily basis.  Then, on Fridays, I had a store that students could use their money to buy items.  As a teacher, the dollar store is my dear friend.  Yeah, there is a lot of crap there.  Yes, most of it is junk.  But these kids don't seem to care!  They'll pay anything for a crooked eraser that is supposed to be shaped like a cupcake, and I think I saw one kid in Idaho give up his kidney for one of those bags of wax-tasting chocolate candy bars.

But not Joey.

The first day that my little store was open, all the kids instantly began throwing money at me as they bought cheap pencils, half-eaten candies, and heaven knows whatever else I found at the dollar store.  Then, ever so slyly, Joey approached me.  "Hey," he said in a serious tone.  "You really wanna charge me 10 bucks for this glow-stick?  I'll give you 1 for it."  Taken back by the seriousness of this 2nd grader, I admitted that 10 bones was a little much for the little guy to pay.  "Then $1.00 it is!" he said boldly, and with the flash of a second, Joey placed a fake $1.00 bill into my hand and walked out of my classroom with the glow-stick.  I stood there, still processing the events, when it happened.

The revolution.

"Hey, I paid $20.00 for this packet of crayons!" George said.  "How about $5.00?"

"Yeah, these stickers were $15.00.  What a rip!" Sally said.

Sweat started to bead on my forehead.  Here we go, I thought.  I am screwed.

After these 2nd graders had their way with me, I decided to close down shop and the "Mr. Cazier Store" was out of business.  So much for that money lesson.  I just got robbed by a bunch of 2nd graders!

Just yesterday, one of my students with autism was out at morning recess sitting on the grass.  Intrigued by why he was just sitting on the ground next to the sidewalk, I decided to go outside and investigate.  As I got closer to him, I saw that he had a poster board folded in half with some writing on it.  I walked up to Kevin (name has been changed) and asked, "Kevin, why aren't you running around getting your energy out?  It's an awesome day!"

Without even looking up, he answered, "I'm working."

"Working eh?" I said, thinking what a cute kid he was for wanting to earn some money.  "What are you selling?"

"I'm not selling anything," he replied.

I looked at the sign and saw the words "I NEED MONEY!"  Next to the sign was a cup that had about 75 cents in pennies.

After our conversation about "working" vs "begging", you can imagine my surprise when I saw Kevin walking into my office during the afternoon recess carrying his same poster and begging cup.  Without a word, Kevin posted his sign on my desk with the cup right next to it, and started to walk out of the room.

"Hey, what are you doing?"  I asked.

"Well Mr. Cazier, I figured that you need the income more than I do."

Thanks, buddy.

The sad thing is, I probably do!

Better 2 Years Than... Never... Maybe?

As I reluctantly glanced at our family blog today, I couldn't help but notice that it has almost been 2 years since our last post.

 That's a dang LDS mission, folks.

 So much has occurred in the last 2 years for the Cazier family that, frankly, I don't want to even talk about it. But, if the person reading this is actually reading this, then... well... I suppose I will write a few of the "main points":

 December 2011: I graduated from Utah State and we decided to accept a job offer in Rexburg, Idaho at Madison Jr. High. I taught Algebra and Pre-Algebra to high school freshmen. Yes... freshmen. Talk about irony; I married at an age I promised myself I never would, attended a university I vowed to cheer against all my life, had a baby at least 2 years before it was planned, went into a field I never really wanted to as a youth, and then... I moved to Idaho and of all places, Rexburg. I have never been a fan of the place, and it was a difficult 6 months there. We made the best of our experience there, and we are grateful for what we have learned, but I highly doubt we will ever go back to that windy place in the Gem State.

 February 2012: Emily surprised me with news that we were pregnant with #2. I do believe we are the most fertile beings on the whole dang planet.

April 2012: I was offered a position in Star Valley, Wyoming as a teacher. Originally, I was going to be in the high school, but was asked by my former elementary school principal to come join his staff. Gratefully, I accepted a position as a 2nd grade resource teacher.

 June 2012: We packed up our things--again--and moved from Rexburg to Thayne, Wyoming. We purchased almost 100 potato boxes to pack up our things, and other than smelling potatoes in our home for the next three months, the move went well.

 July 2012: We found out that we are going to have a boy in November. After Emily rejected my proposals of "Davey Crockett Cazier" and "Steve Young Cazier", we felt good about Oskar David. 

August 2012: The Cazier family finally decided to purchase a newer automobile, and we have become a 2-car affair up in here. The new car, lovingly referred to as "Em's Car", is a 2009 Chrysler Aspen SUV. It is one of those American-sized automobiles that destroys the ozone layer every time the gas pedal is pressed. Sure is roomy, though.

 September 2012: The school year began for yours truly. After quickly realizing that most of my jokes were way over the head of my 2nd grade "clients", I toned it down a bit. I realized the splendor of seeing kids laugh at my dumb jokes.

 November 2012: Oskar David Cazier was born on November 19th at 6:10 PM. Em did marvelous, as expected, and the baby turned out with no complications. I am happy to report that I did not get sworn at, threatened, nor physically harmed during this particular delivery.

 January 2013: Emilia turned 2 on the 26th. She could officially say "no" as well as any teenager I had ever met, and continually told me, "You're funny, Dad."

 April 2013: And so here we are. Besides being balder, fatter, and carrying around 2 kiddos, I am pretty much the same old Dave. Emily has still not divorced me yet, by some amazing miracle, and we are "livin' the dream" as it is so-called. In all seriousness, I am so grateful for my family and for the opportunities that I have been given in these 2 years since our last post. I love being a husband and father, even though it requires more patience and less sleep than I honestly believed previously. There is no greater joy than to fall into the arms of my loved ones when I come home from work, messy faces and all.