Ten Years Ago: Goodbye Scholastic

On November 11, 2011, after 19+ years of employment, I left Scholastic’s Classroom Magazines division. This is the farewell e-mail I sent to my co-workers.

It’s hard to believe I’m typing these words, and this will be a shock to many of you. But with a ridiculously heavy heart, I must announce I have decided to leave Scholastic. During my long time here, I’ve realized so many of my dreams. However, I still have a few to chase, especially in terms of devoting serious time to writing, and I just feel the time is right. Tomorrow is my last day in the office. (Psst… you can skip to the end now if you just want my e-mail address.)
 
I arrived in 1990 as recipient of the Maurice Robinson Award. I was a 21-year-old summer intern randomly assigned to the math magazines (what? I’m a creative writing major!!). I’m 42 now, so, that’s half my life. (See? Math!)
 
I started full-time at age 23, in 1992, as an assistant editor. 730 Broadway. Floppy disks. Dot matrix printers. No e-mail. No cafeteria. By 1995 I was the editor of Math Power (R.I.P.) and in ‘97 I took over MATH.
 
I met lifelong friends. Traveled around the country, manning convention booths. Signed autographs for kids in classrooms. Attended weddings and funerals. (Clarence, Jerry, Herman, Renee, Rhoda, Maggie, I’ll remember you always.) Hugged and cried when tragedies struck. Welcomed babies and congratulated graduates and retirees. Saw co-workers’ plays, bands, dance performances, art shows, photo exhibits, book signings….
 
I won a Chairman’s Gold Star Award in 2004; MATH Magazine won the Association of Educational Publishers’ Best-Periodical Golden Lamp in 2009. Interviewed Tiger Woods at the start of his career and Shaquille O’Neal at the end of his. Wore the Clifford costume in a children’s hospital on Valentine’s Day. Wore a dress on “Magazine Day.” Wore a suit on Saturdays at Advisory Board meetings. Modeled for photo shoots as a waiter, dad, and — with the Map Man — old-timey gangsters. Painted schools uptown. Read to first graders downtown. Eighteen consecutive years of Corporate Challenge races. Seventeen consecutive years of AIDS Walks. Represented the company at the AEP Awards (after reminding people how to enter). Co-captain of blood drives. Recommended a few people who were actually hired! Emcee’d corporate award presentations and children’s holiday parties. 
 
Wrote for SuperScience, Science World, Storyworks, Scholastic News, Parent & Child, Search (R.I.P.), Futures (R.I.P.), e-Scholastic, Teaching Resources, Book Clubs, Traits Writing, and others I’m forgetting. Drew a cartoon for the old corporate newsletter. Edited the moving-to-557 newsletter. Edited a Madison Square Garden after-school magazine. Worked on projects with SMP, Tom Snyder, Read 180, Math 180, the Scholastic Store, Human Resources, Internal Communications, Real Estate, IT, Facilities, Art & Writing Awards, Corporate Conventions, Customer Service, and the Chairman’s Office.
 
Met so many fantastic people!!! Kind and smart and generous and talented and funny and interesting and righteous and idealistic and weird. From security to cleaning crews to reception to administrative staff to the mailroom to the old gym to the Wellness Center to the library to the Greenhouse and everywhere in-between. You inspired me and cheered me up and made it a pleasure to come in every morning. You taught me so much, about your areas of expertise, but also about life, about humanity.
 
I never stopped learning. How to write for 2nd graders, 5th graders, 7th graders. How to edit articles so they are as clear and concise as possible (this farewell doesn’t count). Management training workshops. Collaborating with designers, photo editors, copy editors, production editors, digital imagers, freelancers. Figuring out budgets and contracts, invoices and expense reports. Lessons from the legal department. Understanding how marketing and promotion and publicity works, and the steps in the manufacturing and shipping process. Modernization in all areas. Parsing corporate lingo. A new set of educational standards (and another new set, and another…). And then so many online tasks to learn and marvel at: podcasts, videos, interactive Web pages, annotated PDFs, pop-up windows, games, breaking news, etc. etc….
 
I am so proud of my comrades in the math magazine trenches, past and present. They’ve never totally known what to make of us, have they? Always felt kind of like underdogs, like the strange kids at the end of the hall. That camaraderie added fuel in our quest to create the liveliest, wackiest educational magazines anywhere. We fought math phobia and innumeracy every step of the way, occasionally within this very building. We did amazing work together that I’ll always take pride in.
 
Meeting and corresponding with countless teachers and students was probably the most fulfilling aspect of the job. A sweet misspelled letter from a reader could brighten the gloomiest day. Being able to answer questions, accept ideas, and deal with the occasional complaint was endlessly satisfying. Too often we’re stuck at our desks; it helps to have a reminder that there are flesh-and-blood on the other end of this equation. That contact was invaluable. And it provided constant proof that we were really making a difference.
 
I can never thank the company enough for all the opportunities it has provided me. I certainly tried to repay it whenever I could. It’s been an extreme pleasure working with all you wonderful magazine folk—I didn’t even mind looking at your graphs, suggesting headlines, and reminding you how to find a percent increase. The years I was vice chairperson of our Newspaper Guild unit were a tremendous honor, and I tried to do right by you. Being a deputy fire warden was something I took very seriously as well (even if I didn’t have my fluorescent arm band that one time). I’ve experienced every possible emotion within these walls during the past 19 years, and I’m experiencing a lot of them right now.
 
Please be good to one another.
Please look out for each other.
And when you’re getting bogged down in the nonsense, as we all do from time to time, try to remember: It’s all for the kids. So relax. Smile. Laugh. It’ll come through in the work, I promise.

Jack