Mary Presson Roberts“Photographic projects can be as short as an afternoon or as long as a lifetime.”
― George Barr
I just finished my thirty-first year teaching young children in the public schools of the Carolinas. The past twenty-six years have been spent teaching at the same school located in Charlotte, NC.
Since I am in the final years of my career, I have begun to reflect upon what a rewarding way it has been to spend much of my life. As a result, this past summer, I decided to take on a personal project to try to capture some of the magical moments and scenes that I have had the pleasure to witness during my career. I decided to take one photograph a day each day for the final five years of my career. I titled this project 900 Days of School as that is roughly the number of days I would teach before retiring. This school year was the first year of my project.
When I began the project, I was not quite sure where it would lead. What I found was that the project really took on a life of its own. I will be sharing, throughout the summer, the magical places my project took me in the first year.
The project began with ordinary things I saw around the school.
My desk is always very tidy at the beginning of the year.
In the first days of the project, I found myself recording the scenes I experience every day during a typical school year. What I discovered was that these images were just the beginning of a wonderful journey throughout the school year searching for the beauty of what I experience every day as an elementary school teacher.
I hope you will follow this incredible journey with me throughout this first year of the project to see how it grew and changed.
Quite an ambitious project and I wish you well on it. I’m sure there will be some interesting images and some memories that you will treasure forever. I did a 360 project several years ago and have to admit that I missed a few days along the way. Also did a A-Z project and actually completed that one 🙂 Best of luck, looking forward to seeing all the pictures.
Thank you, Bill! In this first year, it has already been incredibly rewarding and taken on a life of its own!
I learn so much from looking at your work Mary.
Thank you, Dan! That means a lot to me!
Mary, I am thrilled with this project and can tell from the pictures you posted that it is going to be amazing! A meaningful way to end your outstanding career in public education, and a gift to the world, as well.
Your kind words mean a great deal to me! This has been a project from the heart and has helped me focus on all of the great things I still encounter each day. I hope you have a summer filled with joy!
So neat! What a blessing you have been to so many including myself! I can’t wait to follow along on this neat project!
Thank you, so much, Blair! It is relationships like the one I was able to share with you that I will pack away in my box of precious memories!
You are on a roll,keep it up
I love it
Thank you, my friend!