This was originally going to be a look back at the last year of school, but I think I’m going to put that off until tomorrow or Friday since we’ve still got a day of school left.

A bit of background before I explain why that’s not tonight’s topic: I was named Teacher of the Year in my building this year. It’s my second time in the last three years to receive that honor, and I worked like a dog on the portfolio I had to submit for TotY in my school corporation.

I lost. Not badly, mind you; I qualified for the Honors Group, which is basically the ten folks who ended up behind the corporation winner and runner-up. I’d be an asshole if I griped about that. It was awesome.

What made it even easier is that my fourth grade teacher won. Mrs. Panzica was one of the greatest teachers I ever had; certainly the best teacher I had prior to high school and probably the best teacher I had prior to college. (Bernie Levinson, who got me through Biblical Hebrew by putting me on his back and fucking carrying me, has to hold first place, if only for the sheer complexity of the material he taught.) I knew the second I saw her portfolio sitting on the table at the recognition ceremony that she was going to win, and I was right. I am competitive as hell, folks. I do not like to lose, especially at something I want to be good at– and there are very few things in my life that I take more seriously than I do my job. But there is literally no teacher I’m more willing to lose to than her. Truth be told, if she’s the competition, I barely belonged on the stage.

She called me tonight and asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her for her State Teacher of the Year application. Hell yes I’ll write that letter, are you kidding? I’ll write four if I have to. (Seriously: I may write several of them and let her pick which one to send.)

This is, in an odd way, much more intimidating than writing my own TotY portfolio. I’ve done letters of recommendation for people before; this, however, is certainly the biggest deal that I’ve written a letter for. And I want her to win this. Really, really badly.

I’ve got some work to do.