SO I'VE been praying for the students of the LAUSD (Los Angeles
Unified School District) for many years now beginning when I was actually a
substitute teacher for the LAUSD, and which I did for many years while also
pursuing a Masters Degree at seminary. Prior to being a substitute I was a
regular teacher at another school district. I always felt partially called to
try to help our young people of America to be the best that they can be.
But I also felt called to the ministry, ... I struggled with
whether I could faithfully complete my calling just by being a good teacher
with a Christian heart (but not allowed to proselytize in the public schools)
.. so while I WAS still a teacher the LEAST i could do was PRAY REGULARLY for
the students. ...and I did this while I was a regular teacher at the other
district and all the more so while I was with the LAUSD and eight years after I
moved on I am still praying and thinking and caring about the welfare of the
students I specifically taught and met & instructed in the classroom, but
also in general for all the students of LAUSD, and ALL students in general
everywhere, both public, private, Christian , Catholic, et al.
But because I was specifically a part of the LAUSD experience for
more years than any other establishment as a teacher, I can more easily
visualize the many different schools and students of the LAUSD. All of my
substitute teaching was with middle & high school students so most, if not
all , of them have probably already graduated from high school by now , and
maybe even most have been thru college by now if they went that
direction.
So they are young adults now. I hope I helped them in some small way . And I hope I continue to help them thru prayer, but also those who are still there at the LAUSD who I did not personally meet in the classroom, I continue to pray for them. You see, because I was a substitute teacher I have a different perspective of the LAUSD than most other teachers, especially most other regular teachers who spend their entire lives and careers often at the same school.
And even amongst substitute teachers I am probably a bit unique because I specifically and intentionally wanted to go to as many different schools around the LAUSD as possible. And for those who do not know it is a GIGANTIC district, as far north & west as Woodland Hills , Chatsworth, Pacific Palisades, San Fernando, Sunland Tujunga , Westchester near LAX , and then LOTS of central & south L.A. , and as far south as San Pedro, and as far east as Southgate & East L.A. and I went to practically ALL of the different ones.
The only way I could make this happen of course is get up VERY
EARLY in the morning and start driving towards my current zone. The LAUSD is
divided up into 4 zones so that substitutes who live in the northwest zone
don't get called to schools in the southeast zone etc because it would TAKE TOO
LONG to get there with L.A. traffic. For example, from San Pedro High School to
El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills is 47 miles, or from San Pedro to Chatsworth
High is 52 miles.
So most subs choose a zone nearest where they live and remain in that zone for most of their substitute careers. And YES, some subs do make a career out of it. If you accept enough assignments you can make ends meet financially and also get health benefits. For a while I was also getting health benefits having reached the threshold for bennies some of the years I was there.
However, unlike most other subs because I was sort of new to Los
Angeles I wanted to really get to know the entire county & so I
intentionally changed zones from time to time, and as I was saying this meant I
needed to be on the road earlier towards that zone in order to get to my
assignments on time, ...the calls would come in the morning between 5:30 &
7:30 am, NOT the night before...so you don't know where you are going until an
hour or two prior. Being relatively young while I was doing this I had the
"elasticity" to handle this kind of lifestyle, but after I had been
doing it for over ten years I admit I was getting a bit tired of it. It was not
a novelty so much anymore. And there were new bureaucratic issues to contend
with from time to time. And I had completed my masters degree ... so I was
wondering if it was time to move on & seek new challenges.
And eventually i did, and I will probably tell the story of how that happened here sooner or later. But for now this is just an introduction to the blog. I hope to start posting regularly here about the LAUSD...my personal thoughts & comments about the 2nd largest district in the USA (after NYC) & maybe comment on current events in the LAUSD etc. I think I spent enough time on the "inside" to be a legitimate critic.
And most importantly I will continue to pray mostly for the
students of LAUSD who are still impressionable. And secondly for the teachers
of LAUSD who we pray are doing their very best, but are not so
"teachable" anymore, some of whom may not be Christians. Oh,
yes, and 3rd, I will pray for the administrators (the good, the bad,
& all the rest, as they say ). And I ask you to also pray for the LAUSD as
well as all students across the USA and around the world.
And by the way, I hope some current or former LAUSD students (or any students anywhere) might come across this blog & encourage you especially if you are still in school to make a point of praying while you are AT SCHOOL. If you are already a Christian you know about prayer.
If you are NOT a Christian I also want to invite you to accept Christ as Savior. Wherever you are in order to become a Christian it comes down to being sorry for your sins (we're all sinners & all need to repent & be forgiven by God thru Jesus Christ; even if you or I have not committed a serious sin such as one of those mentioned in the 10 commandments, nonetheless, even if you are a very good person & citizen, we are ALL still at the very least guilty of "original sin" (you will have to google the meaning of that if you don't know), & then there are the "sins of omission" in contrast to the "sins of commission" .
Many very good citizens may be good at avoiding the serious "sins of commission" but are unaware that they are are still committing "sins of omission" . Again, you will need to google that to find out more but here's a link to help you begin:
And so once you are convinced of your sinfulness you are ready to
say SORRY TO JESUS (repentance) and ask Jesus to be your Savior and open your
heart to Him. This is how you begin your life as a Christian. And then you
start growing just like a little seed in a pot of soil. Your new life has begun
! And then you feed the soil with reading the Bible, attending worship
services , having fellowship with other Christians, praying to God (ie talking
to God), etc. I hope you will make the ULTIMATE COMMITTMENT which will save
your life no matter what happens tomorrow. You are SAVED ! congratulations.
!
GOd bless you.
In the name of Jesus
johnny b good
