COMC Interview

[Professor Shira Yocheved]

Shira was a little nervous, but also confident about what the day would bring her. It was the month of April, and for some odd reason, it was raining hard. April was known of rain and sunshine, but why a day like this? She grunted and went to put on her clothes. She wanted to stay warm, but still give off a good impression; she hoped that her outfit would win the Headmistresses approval of teaching within her school.

[outfit]

She put all her paperwork within her coat. She wanted to make sure that her reseme and other materials of what she needed was with her. Whatever the Headmistress would ask, Shira knew that she would have it. It's not like I haven't done this before, she thought to herself.

When she knew that she was ready, she began to head for the door of her home. She was very close to the school, so she hoped that would add in. She used to teach at the all girls school of Beauxbatons until she was sick and over it. Shira taught them the creatures there, but she quickly quit after teaching for one year. She could not stand the stuck up girls that they were. Yes, it was such a great school with such a great system, but the students themselves always thought highly of themselves.

She then went to work for Hogwarts for a couple years. She enjoyed it there, but she had to change locations for personal reasons. Now was her chance for another job but at Providence Academy.

When walking out of her apartment, Shira automatically apparated to the Academy and was immediately at the front doors. She walked in and towards the Headmistresses office. When she got there, she knocked on the door twice, waiting for acceptance of entry.

[Headmistress Rollins]

The Headmistress had conducted two successful interviews that came with wonderful conversation and a fellowship with her new professors that was sometimes hard to find with a new relationship and she was looking forward to another opportunity with the next. It saddened her to no end that she had to terminate the employment of several of her professors recently, but it had to be done.

She had never personally met Ms. Yocheved, but she came highly recommended. She has received her degree at Greens Academy for Care for Magical Creatures and had taught as a substitute at Hogwarts for a couple of years, then moved on to Beaxbatons, an all girls school for a short time and then onto Durmstrang for seven years. Shira was known to be a tough teacher, but a fair one and the Headmistress had a lot of respect for that. She always thought it to be important to be kind and patient when dealing with children, but to also let them know who is boss.

It was mid day and the sun was high in the sky. The rain was still coming down hard, but the smell always reminded her of home. When she heard the knock come to the door she rose and allowed the lovely woman into her office. She showed her to the same chair each of the other professors had previously sat and then sat across from the veela.

Sammy looked down at the folder and then back up to Shira and said with a wide smile, "Ms. Yocheved I was just looking over your credentials and I am very impressed. You have spent the better half of ten years teaching Care of Magical Creatures at some credited academy's and come with high recommendations, though I am uncertain why you would choose to come to Providence over staying at Durmstrang where your pay would have been much higher than what we can offer."

[Professor Shira Yocheved]

Shira could not help but to give a little chuckle at Headmistresses remark about Durmstrang. The woman was right. She could have gone to that school and get a higher pay and not have to worry about anything. But that was not the case. She was not going for the pay, but rather what she could get out of it creature-wise. It seemed that Durmstrang was not as much intriguing than this school itself. "Why would I need to be in an area that has a higher pay? I believe in education more than I do money." Shira paused and gave another chuckle. "I already have that." She shrugged and crossed her legs to the left.

Shira did have a question that she wanted to ask the Headmistresses and it seemed that now was the best time. "What creatures do you not allow into Providence?" she asked, hoping that she would allow dragons, though most schools would not. Durmstrang allowed them, but the rest out there did not for they did not have enough room and Durmstrang had a lot of land. But it was not a reason why she did not want to teach there. She could have a side job there, but she would rather work full time in Providence.

[Headmistress Rollins]

Sammy smiled politely at the Veela. She was a lovely lady and speculated the boys over that Durmstrang were upset when the professor left. Hormones were so out of whack at that age, especially for boys. Unfortunately housing students at such a young and impressionable age came with that a lot of confusion and the need for talks normally reserved for the parents. Times had changed so much even since she was young and children were engaging themselves in conduct unbecoming and unnecessary for a young person on many realms. Previous to Headmistress Rollins taking over the post at Providence, girls as young as twelve were getting pregnant and had to be sent home to deal with a life altering situation that came about because of lack of education on the parent’s part. Though some parents thought the information should be reserved for later talks, some put the talk on hold for much too long and the kids ended up learning a lesson hands on. It was sad really.

The money wasn’t the reason she was here, so that was refreshing. Though as a rule teachers didn’t make much money, Providence was on the lower pay scale because of some serious budget cuts. The professors had agreed several years back that they would rather take a pay cut than to cut back on the provisions needed to properly educate the students. It was good to have humanitarians at the school; they cared enough about their students to not put their focus on their wallets.

She used the pause to chew over the question that Shira had posed regarding the magical creatures they allowed. “Well since we are so high up on the equator some of the warm blooded mystical creatures cannot sustain themselves in this environment, but we do have a dragon hatchery in the towers in the northwest section of the school. You see … the colder environment puts them in a state of hibernation if you will so it is safer to handle them here when they are hatched for that reason. So once they hatch they don’t stick around for long. They are shipped to various sanctuaries on the southern hemisphere for proper care. As for the other creatures, the curriculum isn’t much different between schools. Many are allowed for hands on teaching and field trips are authorized as well. We have in the budget the funding for one off school field trip per year.” She handed Shira a sheet of paper with the list of countries with the various sanctuaries they were authorized to visit. “Though the budget is pretty strictly governed we put the curriculum together in a way to make sure the students are getting a proper education.”

[Professor Shira Yocheved]

Shira nodded and understood what the Headmistress had to say. She was disappointed that it would be rare that there would be a teaching of Dragons. Shira knew that there was a separate section for teaching Dragons, but it was good to understand the basics before going to a tougher class based off of Dragons in college. She thought that it would be a good idea. She shrugged and gave a small smile.

"I understand the budget. I did read up on the school. It seems that United States is going under its critical debt like they did many years ago. So I understand how to budget and to bring the creatures here." Shira shifted positions and set with her legs crossed the other way. She wondered what the standards were wanted by the Headmistress. But first, what was she going to be given once stepping inside of the classroom. "I was wondering, Headmistress Rollins. What will I be given for the standards? Handbooks? Or everything will come with me? I do have a lesson plan ready myself, but just to make sure." Shira said and gave a bright smile. She needed to smile here and there if she wanted to give the positive impression to get her job.

[Headmistress Rollins]

"Already prepared with a lesson plan ... impressive." Sammy thought to herself. She smiled at the beautiful young woman and said, "Well of course you would have to use the standard wizarding curriculam for Care of Magical Creatures, but you do have to liberty to get creative with it and with the field trip you can always visit Greens if you are looking to teach the kids about Dragons. There is an awesome teacher over there ... Professor Karlis Demarius ... he is a dragon expert and found some breeding grounds in the Hot Sulfur Hills. I guess it is the perfect incubation for the dragons because of the hot springs."

She shrugged her shoulders and then said, "Dragons have always intrigued me ... but they also scare the heck out of me. We do have a creature habitat off the south side of the building that houses over a hundred species of different mystical creatures for hands on learning and we have about ffifteen more in the works for this semester. I will show it to you if you are interested."