Ben Baker

Well so far the new job has been great.  It is really good to be back in a school and working with kids.  I do wish that I was teaching.  I just finished 13 truancy letter for the elementary kids (5^th and 6^th graders) warning their parents that they are missing to many classes that are unexcused.  If the problem continues they will have to go to court and be court ordered to be in school.  13 students is more than 10% of the elementary kids here.  What are kids that young doing skipping school.  Where are they going?  There is nothing here in town to do.  It just blows my mind.  At least these letters will, at least hopefully, have an impact and get their butts to school.  Some of the middle schoolers and high schoolers could care less and skip anyway.  They find out real soon the judge doesn’t mess around after they meet with her will get picked up if they skip again.  It doesn’t last to long after that before they start to take it a little more serious.

I’ve started to see more and more kids as the days go by.  I have a group of kids that come in usually a couple times a week for some math tutoring.  I have a group of kids that come in after they are done eating to sit and chat and draw on my white board.  I’ve started meeting with another group that wants to be peace agents, anti-bullying.  We are trying to get across to them that if they are going to be apart of it they can’t say mean things to other students though.  It’s hard for 5^th and 6^th graders to understand that.  A few kids come in to help boost their self esteem and a brother and sister come to talk about the grieving process of losing their grandma.

So I get a wide range of students who I help with some more serious problems to just needing some math help.  I’ve also started going into the gym before school starts.  The younger kids like to go in there and play football and basketball in the morning.  I am there to watch and join in every once in a while.

I am also on the student assessment team, we get students referred to us by teachers that might have social and/or academic problems.  We do some interventions to see if something can be changed to help or additional help can be given to take care of the problem (math tutoring group).  If the problem goes away then that is good.  If not then we probably have a bigger problem and then refer them to the psychologist to do some testing to see if they are in need of special education.

A variety of work but I am truly enjoying it.  Also the temperature is warming.  We have had rain all week, the snow is melting rapidly, but we have a lot of mud which sucks even more.

Last week was my 1st week at the new job. I am an interventionist at Waubun High School. Even though it is the high school those are not the only grades here. Kids start coming here during 5th grade. I’m not sure why it starts at 5th grade. Last week my job was pretty slow but it was picking up everyday. I didn’t have to work on Monday because it was Presidents Day. You’ve got to love school holidays.

Tuesday I didn’t do much because I had to go over a bunch of paper work and files to learn some stuff about kids. I did have to send out truancy letters to some parents. Truancy letters are sent out once a kid misses classes for a 3rd day with no excuse. These letters are just informing parents that if their child misses a total of 7 days with no excuse over the entire school year then they will be reported to the county or tribal truancy agency that they have missed these days. The students will then have to go to court and talk with the judge about why they’ve missed and how it’s affecting their grades. They will then be court ordered to be in school. If they miss a certain amount of days after that there could be a number of consequences; can’t get driver’s license until 18 or placed in a juvenile detention center or foster care. It is a more serious thing then some students seem to care about.

Wednesday I had a couple of meetings about setting up a crisis plan. This school and area in general has a fairly high rate of suicides and someone at the school did last year. The meeting was to help set up a new plan incase someone at school as specific thoughts or plans on doing it at school. Getting the right people informed and in place incase it does happen. I am part of that team so let’s hope it never happens. This position deals with a little heavier stuff than physical education did. I also went to court this day with a girl this day that had missed about 5 weeks of school. She is dong much better and you can see her grades are starting to climb back up to passing levels.

Thursday was a little bit lighter day than Wednesday. I went into all of the 5th and 6th grades classes and introduced myself. I let them know where my office is and what my job is here at the school. It was good because one kid goes to my church and about 5 kids go to the boys and girls club that I also work at. I had to go to a meeting over at the White Earth court room that eventually got cancelled. It was nice to get me out of the building but really didn’t have to do anything. Haha nice.

Friday I had a few little meeting with kids and the other interventionist discussing something’s about their attendance and school work. I also met with 3 kids that didn’t meet their reading requirement for a class, meaning they didn’t get to attend the class party. Instead they got to come to my office and go to the library and pick out some new books. I bet that was way more fun. Yeah right.

Anyway the week came to a close and I was wiped out. I am not used to the schedule yet but it’s getting better. Waking up and leaving for work by 7:15 and not getting home until 8:00 is a little different than waking up at 8:30 leaving for work at 2:45 and getting home by 8:00. It’s all worth it though. Being back in a school is great, and the paycheck is nice as well.

Well, it’s been a couple of months since I wrote on here so I’ll quickly cover them and then tell you about my recent news. 

Jill and I went home to Oregon for Christmas as it was a really good time.  We got to spend a lot of time with friends and extended family.  We flew in on Christmas Eve and got to go over to Curt and Kristi’s for our old Stutzman tradition of pizza, Christmas Eve service, and then back for presents and Peg’s socks (one of my favs).  Christmas day Curts and Peg came over for breakfast which we also always do.  The rest of the day was relaxing and going over to Pat and Mike’s for a late lunch.  It was a great time because it was the only time we got to see Darren and Audra before they left to Canada.  We went and had desert with all of my other Baker Uncles and their families, Grandma Karen and Marlin.

The next day we spent time with friends going out to eat at Red Robin, (which is so good) and then out to the casino to win money.  We didn’t win but it was still a really good time.  On Monday Jill and I went out to the coast.  It was so great to see the ocean again.  Its weird you don’t know you miss it until you can’t go out and see it.  When we lived in Oregon we didn’t go see it all that often, but knowing you can’t go and see it makes you miss it.  It was a great day out there, lots of sun and really warm.  Well, it actually was only like 55 degrees but to us it was like a 70 degree increase.  We were out in t-shirts and it was all windy.  People were looking at us you guys are crazy, put a jacket on.  We spent our anniversary out there one night before my parents, Scott, Monica, and Lauren.  She had changed so much since we had seen her before we left.  I hate missing seeing her every little bit and watching her grow.  It sucks that she doesn’t know who we are right now.  It was really fun being out there with just our family for a couple of days.  We did lots of stuff out there like; lounging, reading, eating, vegging out, sleeping, and walking on the beach twice.  Haha what a bunch of lazy bums we are.

It was hard saying good-bye to Scott, Monica, and the babe.  Me and Jill went to Depoe Bay, got our favorite wine, some taffy, and then traveled south to Jill’s favorite spot on the Oregon Coast the Spouting Horns (we like to call them the squirts).  It was awful weather, rainy and windy.  That made for a great show but we got soaked.  When the wave come over and got us we decided it was a little to dangerous so we left.  We got back to the car and while I was changing clothes Jill decided to take a picture of me while I was naked.  Not cool. 

We spent New Years Eve with my parents watching movies and playing games.  Not our normal New Years Eve party but it was fun.  We spent the next day traveling home to -30 degrees when we got off the plane.  Got to love Minnesota right, wrong.  It’s to cold here.  Haha I love it here.  Still to cold though.

Since being back it is still really cold here.  We got a couple of snow storms dropping about 15 inches on us.  Another big piece of news was that I burned and cut my hand pretty bad.  I was cooking bacon one Saturday morning and after taking the bacon out I was putting the grease into a glass jar.  Well the jar broke apart and the grease ran all over my left hand.  I pulled my hand away pretty fast and cut it pretty bad on my pointer finger.  At that point my insurance hadn’t kicked in yet so I didn’t go and get stitches.  I’ll show you the scar sometime.  I think its going to be a pretty good one.

Anyway that leads up to the present where I have recently been hired as an Interventionist and the Waubun School.  In my next post I’ll explain what I do at my job.  I also am keeping my Job at the boys and girls club because this job is only temporary until the end of the school year.  So my plan is during the summer work at the boys and girls club and then be back in the school somewhere next year.  Hopfully.

Something new for me on thanksgiving.  It was the first time that I have not been around my family which was a little weird.  I talked to them on the phone but still a little weird.  The other new thing for me was that I cooked thanksgiving dinner.  I made the turkey which I think turned out to be awesome, I’m still eating leftovers, creamed corn, and a jello salad.  Jill mad the the mashed potatoes and gravy while Pat brought a lettuce salad and pumpkin pie.  I think people enjoyed it because everyone had seconds which I was thankful for.

The Wednesday before thanksgiving I started my new job working at the Callaway Boys and Girls Club.  I was just supossed to go through orientation but my boss had me work a full day which ment I got Holiday Pay for Thursday and Friday.  The tribe out here is so giving.  I also worked Saturday which gave me a pretty good first week with only working 4 days.  The jobis only 25 hours a week so I’m in the process of still looking for something to help get the extra hours to be working full time.  Jill found a position at the Menards in town to be an early morning stocker from 5-9 which would be ok I guess even though I hate getting up early.  I would be able to come home and take a litle nap since I don’t hav etoat the Boys and Girls Club until 3 in the afternoon.  haha.

Today I am watching my little neice Kaydence from upstairs while went Christmas shopping.  We watched the Emperor’s New Groove and now she is watching a Barbie movie which I wasn’t really into so I decided to write a little not instead.  She keeps asking when I’m going to come watch with here so I guess I’ll join her for a little while.  Love it.  haha.

The weather the past couple of weeks has been incredible out here.  I was under the understanding that it would already be freezing with lots of snow on the ground by this point.  Even though we have had a couple of snowy spells starting the first week of October the snow is gone and it has been very nice out here lately 50’s and sunny.

The job hunt is still going on.  I found out today that I did not get the coaching position that I had hoped for.  It was a varsity position at Waubun High School.  They did offer some reffing opportunities at the middle school level if i wished.  haha doubt it but maybe. I had an interview for a boys and girls club yesterday so we’ll have to wait and see if that turns up.  I talked with a temp agency today as well and they said that they have nothing available at the moment so we shall see if anything ything comes open for me.

Another piece of bad news that I just recieved is that the federal government is looking to see if everyone who received funding from Oregon State during the master’s program is doing what they are supposed to be doing.  I don’t know what I’m going to do since I’m not teaching my second year.  I hope it will be ok because I couldn’t find a job.  I hope so at least.

Well I applied to 6 more positions last week and have not heard anything from any of them.  It is starting to get really frustrating.  I have found 3 more positions that I am currently printing of the applications for and will send them in tomorrow.  Not having anything to do all day is starting to get old.  There is stuff to do on the house still but it is stuff that I don’t feel comfortable doing by myself.  Like tiling the bath tube.  I might be be finishing it tomorrow by myself but there are a couple prep pieces that need to be placed that I don’t want to mess up so I’ll just wait until the boss comes home.  Well that is about all that is happening with me.

Jill was just offered more hours at work if she wants them so my wife is working full-time and going to school full-time while I am being a stay at home dad with no kids.  Awesome.  Love it.

It has been a long time since I’ve wrote anything and this was mostly because of my busy life as a potato harvester.  I drove truck for potato harvest which is one of the largest potato harvests in the world.  Total there were 14 crews with 12 trucks in each crew running about 20-22 days.  The days started anywhere from 4-6 in the morning.  It wasn’t a lot lot of fun waking up at 2:00 am to go drive truck.  It wasn’t all that long ago I wouldn’t have even been in bed at that time.  It wasn’t to bad of a job though.  There was enough going on that you had couldn’t get really tired.  Having to pay attention to the harvester in the field to make sure you had the truck in the right spot to not overflow and spill all the potatoes as you move while loading.  Because it was my first time ever driving a truck (a 9 speed) i had to focus a lot more while driving and carrying 70,000 pounds takes a lot more concentration on slowing down and turning safely.   The only time I got tired was waiting to get unloaded but then I had my coffee so was ok.  We would work until around 7:30 so days got to be pretty long by that point.

Potato harvest is over thank goodness and we have finally moved into our place.  Living with Jon and Pat was fine but it sure is nice having our own place to go to and relax.  We still have some work to be done in it but it is livable.  We need to finish the tile around the bathtub.  We can’t take showers in it yet but we go upstairs to shower.  That is kind of a pain but worth it to have our own place.

Since potato harvest is over I don’t have a job which is a little discouraging because I’ve applied to I don’t know how many positions, 20+ I’m guessing and only 1 interview from all of that.  I haven’t heard anything from that interview yet either and that was 2 weeks ago so it’s not looking promising.  I’m applying to a few more positions today so I guess we’ll see what happens.

Hope all is well for everyone else.

Well its been a long time since I’ve worked and been this bored while doing it.  Don’t get me wrong I’m very thankful for the job but it is very boring.  Don’t tell my wife I said its boring she got mad at me last night when I said it after my 1st day working only 4 hours because she thought her dad and brother Jesse would feel hurt.  They might but Jesse is the first person who told me it was a boring job.  He said he used to have to do and is glad than he has moved on from it.  Here is my job down at the shavings mill.

 1st I watch these wood shavings to make sure they continue to move up the conveyor belt on to the next conveyor belt.   If I see any large peices of wood I need to pick them off so they won’t plug up the next conveyor belt.  After I make sure the next conveyor belt take the shavings into the dryer I have to make sure that the temperature stays at a certain level, not to hot and not to cold.  Lastly I need to make sure that the last conveyor belt continues to move the shavings into the shed.  Very exciting stuff.  Today the chain came off the 1st conveyor belt 3 times, the second conveyor belt got plugged twice and the last conveyor belt stopped 3 times.  Makes my day exciting.  The good news was though after 6 hours we got our first break and were done for the day because we ran out of fuel.  Lovely.

In other news the sheetrock is up on the walls.  It took me a few days to go and finish it after nearly cutting a chunk of my finger off with the blade last friday.  Still hurts pretty badly but I can tell that it is healing.  Everything has been taped and mudded once and most things have their second coat of mud on them.  I am hoping that Delmar will come back tomorrow night and help finish the rest of the mudding so we can texture this weekend and paint next week.  We are getting pretty close to being moved in.  Sort of. 

We are doing ok living with Jon and Pat but we are getting ready to have our own space to just relax and be us.  I don’t feel comfortable relaxing and vegging out on their couch and changing the channel to um well I don’t know ESPN with them always around because I know they don’t watch it.  I think I’ve watched Sportcenter 5 times since I’ve been here.  I’m goin through withdrawls.  That is my drug.  A good one I think.

 We had a softball game tonight and I went 4-4.  Meaning I hit everytime I got up to bat for those of you who don’t know.  Haha probably for you mama.  This is my blog so I can brag about myself a little bit so I’ll do it a little more.   My first plate appearance the bases were loaded and I hit a Grand Salami Time.  Dad might be the only who gets that reference.  Go Mariners.  I won’t talk about the 2 errors that I made in the field.  Not a big deal don’t worry about it.  Strawberry Lake Mennonite won 18-14 over the church Jesse pastors, can’t remember the name.  Jesse got really mad on time so funny.  Church league softball and the one pastor is throwing his glove on the ground in anger.  Haha still funny.

 Well its later here and I’m going to bed.  I’ll write more later, who knows when.

 Love and miss everyone who is reading this, if anyone is.

So last night about 9:30 I’m sitting in Jake and Nicole’s house watching tv and I can see this flashing going on outside around the shades and I hear a banging noise every once in a while.  After about 5 minutes I decide to go and look out the sliding glass door who is out there.  Turns out it was no one execpt mother nature herself, and she was not happy.  It turned out to be one of the most amazing thunder storms I’ve every seen.  Dad you would have loved it, Mom not so much.  It lasted for a couple of hours.  At one point when I was looking out the door with all of the lights turned off the electricity went out and as this bolt lit up the sky for about 5 seconds.  It was so crazy because there are a lot of trees around their house and they were outlined by the sky.  It was awesome and a little spooky at the same time.  I sat down and started crying right there.  Haha just kidding.  The thing of it was, I was there all by myself.  Jill and Nicole were at a women’s thing in Fargo and Jake had taken the kids to the church faimily camp out.  So I sat there in the dark not knowing where anything is really in there house, at least candles or flashlights or anything.  I couldn’t have walked back to Jon and Pat’s but it was raining so hard you could see it coming down in sheets during the major flashes.  So I sat and listened and enjoyed the silence for about an hour until the electricity came back on and the rain stopped.  I decided to walk back home and it was a good thing because it wasn’t long until round 2 started.  I thought it was over but this morning showed ruond 3 and 4.  It is poring down rain right now (like 1996 Issac Lake rain in your face hard), if you missed it you don’t want to know, and we are supposed to go to the camp out this afternoon.  I hope we decide not to go.  I really don’t want to be went all night. 

Yesterday Jill and I got all of the sheetrock moved inside which we where going as fast as we could because you could just feel in the air that it was coming.  Stupid humidity.  I hate it.  I got some more sheetrock up yesterday.  I work on it for about 10 hours.  The only parts left are half of the bathroom, not much, and the kitchen and hallway which will  go quick because there are really not many angles and full sheets will be able to go up.  I’m so ready to move in and have our own space.  Its fine living with Jon and Pat right now but we miss having our own space to go and relax and be away from everyone.  That was why I was at Jake and Nicole’s last night.  Needed some alone time.

 Well guess I should get ready to go wet camping.

Well so far we have been in Minnesota for 1 week.  It has gone really well here so far except basically we are still homeless.  There is a lot more work to be done before our house will be ready to move into.  Last night about 7 guys from the church came over and we got a lot of the sheetrock put up on the ceiling.  There is only one room left for the ceiling to be finished and about half of the walls so it is coming along but is taking a while.  Today Jill, Nicole (the sister-in-law we are living with) helped me put up some of the wall sheetrock which is nice that I can do something while Jake is gone at work during the day.  We didn’t get to work on the house tonight though because it was their (Jake and Nicole) son’s (Emeric) stroll for epilepsy.  He is such a sweet thing but was not having a good day today.  One of his other conditions besides epilepsy doesn’t allow him to control his temperature very well and it was really hot and humid today.  So being outside during the heat is a major stuggle for him.  He is a cooling vest that he wears that we have to keep filling with cold water but it was just to hot for that to help much.  With his condition it is going to make our house very cool the rest of the summer and warm in the winter.  They have a great AC and Heater system.  The floors, even of the basement, are heated which I am going to greatly enjoy.  So if anyone is interested about coming and visiting in the winter at least you will have a warm place to stay.  Don’t come for at least another couple weeks so we can get the house finished.

 Also I am still currently unemployed which is ok at the moment so I can work on the house more but it is not looking very promising.  Jill just got hired at a Job in Fargo working 4 days a week doing a lot of what she did at her old job at least with the juvenile department.  I did just find another job to apply to as a paraprofessional working with 4-6 graders who need help with reading and math.  I know I’m not the best reader but I think I can read at that level though.  Also, connected with it is assistan basketball coach so we’ll see what happens.

Anyway I’m tired from the work and stroll tonight so I’m off today.  Hope all is well in my real HOME STATE.