ABC, easy as 1 RV: Keep Derik Teaching
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Hi there! This is Derik, a grade-school teacher who loves his job, his school, and his students. I’m his wife, Maggy, and I am asking for your help so that he can continue teaching.
We met in 2009, and while our first date didn’t end well, our second first date in 2010 was wonderful. We’ve spent hardly any time apart since. In 2011, I was hospitalized for high blood pressure (I was only 25). The diagnosis was stage 3 kidney failure, a chronic disease without a cure. Derik was shaken, and he designated himself my Knight of the Kitchen, keeping a watch on my sodium intake. He also made sure I always had medication, something I hadn’t been able to afford before, having no insurance.
That same year, Derik went back to school to get his degree in studio art, with double minors in history and education from Lindenwood University, and his teaching certification for the state of Missouri. While I worked a full-time job plus gigs, he did our meal planning and studied hard, graduating summa cum laude in 2015. We married on the steps of the art museum one month later.
We have weathered storms and stress together with the help of our families and friends in the years since, and now my condition is stable. After a lot of struggle, we both finally have much loved, full-time jobs. We feel so blessed and grateful for our life.
Since the novel coronavirus struck this year, COVID-19 has upended life as we know it. Here, in Missouri, each school district has been left to make up their own rules. And while many districts have opted to open virtually for the first semester, Derik’s district opted to do both virtual and in-person education.
When the teachers in his district were offered the option to sign up for virtual instruction, Derik signed up immediately. We gave the district a letter from my medical specialist detailing my high risk of life-threatening complications should he bring the virus home and recommending that he teach virtually. But a week and a half before the school year is slated to begin, we’ve been told that the district doesn’t have a virtual teaching position for him.
We’ve reached out to his teachers’ union and our doctors for help, but no resolution has been found. After many stressful nights of little sleep desperately searching for creative solutions on our own, we are left with only two options: live apart while Derik teaches, or lose 55% of our income and his health benefits in the middle of a pandemic. Neither option is ideal, but our living apart is our best way forward.
A friend near Derik’s school has offered to let him park a camper or RV on their property to live in for the school year. However, we can’t afford to rent or buy a camper without help.
So here we are. We have a grade-school teacher who wants to teach, who is willing to sacrifice our togetherness, and who will risk himself to keep teaching his students, but who also needs to keep his wife safe. Derik says, “choosing between my dream job and my wife is not a choice. I cannot find another Maggy.” Could you help us raise the money we need to secure a camper and keep Derik teaching?
Thank you for reading until the end; it means so much to us that you’re here at all and thank you for considering helping us out. We know there are a lot of worthy causes, especially now, and we appreciate your kindness and your time.
Sincerely,
Maggy & Derik
We met in 2009, and while our first date didn’t end well, our second first date in 2010 was wonderful. We’ve spent hardly any time apart since. In 2011, I was hospitalized for high blood pressure (I was only 25). The diagnosis was stage 3 kidney failure, a chronic disease without a cure. Derik was shaken, and he designated himself my Knight of the Kitchen, keeping a watch on my sodium intake. He also made sure I always had medication, something I hadn’t been able to afford before, having no insurance.
That same year, Derik went back to school to get his degree in studio art, with double minors in history and education from Lindenwood University, and his teaching certification for the state of Missouri. While I worked a full-time job plus gigs, he did our meal planning and studied hard, graduating summa cum laude in 2015. We married on the steps of the art museum one month later.
We have weathered storms and stress together with the help of our families and friends in the years since, and now my condition is stable. After a lot of struggle, we both finally have much loved, full-time jobs. We feel so blessed and grateful for our life.
Since the novel coronavirus struck this year, COVID-19 has upended life as we know it. Here, in Missouri, each school district has been left to make up their own rules. And while many districts have opted to open virtually for the first semester, Derik’s district opted to do both virtual and in-person education.
When the teachers in his district were offered the option to sign up for virtual instruction, Derik signed up immediately. We gave the district a letter from my medical specialist detailing my high risk of life-threatening complications should he bring the virus home and recommending that he teach virtually. But a week and a half before the school year is slated to begin, we’ve been told that the district doesn’t have a virtual teaching position for him.
We’ve reached out to his teachers’ union and our doctors for help, but no resolution has been found. After many stressful nights of little sleep desperately searching for creative solutions on our own, we are left with only two options: live apart while Derik teaches, or lose 55% of our income and his health benefits in the middle of a pandemic. Neither option is ideal, but our living apart is our best way forward.
A friend near Derik’s school has offered to let him park a camper or RV on their property to live in for the school year. However, we can’t afford to rent or buy a camper without help.
So here we are. We have a grade-school teacher who wants to teach, who is willing to sacrifice our togetherness, and who will risk himself to keep teaching his students, but who also needs to keep his wife safe. Derik says, “choosing between my dream job and my wife is not a choice. I cannot find another Maggy.” Could you help us raise the money we need to secure a camper and keep Derik teaching?
Thank you for reading until the end; it means so much to us that you’re here at all and thank you for considering helping us out. We know there are a lot of worthy causes, especially now, and we appreciate your kindness and your time.
Sincerely,
Maggy & Derik
Organizer
Maggy Bort
Organizer
St Louis, MO