Changes. Life is full of them. For five years I put on a uniform from the police department for my school chaplain position. Yesterday I turned in that shirt and will be be getting a new one next week with new logos and a new name. School chaplain title is being changed to resiliency coach. All the signage, clothing, and labels are being redone.
I’m glad I didn’t order, and pay for with my own money, a heavy jacket last year. There is some talk about getting new tags to cover the out-of-date- ones now, but again it will be done at one’s own cost. The shirt was all the police department had paid for and that’s the only thing being replaced, at no cost. The new shirt, though, from what I’ve seen, is not as heavy duty as the previous one. Just hope it holds up well for five years like the old one.
This change has come about due to an organization, Freedom From Religion in Schools, that seemed to think we were clerics being planted in public schools. They sent a complaint to the school district, but after carefully looking into the history and curriculum of the program, the district said, “we want you in our schools, just change your name.” There is no proselytizing. There is a lot of resiliency building though, so that’s the reason for the new name.
Some of us who have been doing this for a few years were laughing that we probably didn’t even need to wear a uniform any more. The students and staff know us so well. What we do won’t change, just the clothing we wear.
Dkzody's Weblog 
I like your new job title!
It’s sad that everyone has this aversion to anything that relates to religion. And to think that an organization outside the school district has enough clout to force the school district to alter the names and uniforms for their employees is just scary. Not a nice world, is my thinking…
New shirt’s good!
Nothing is as sturdy and well made these days. But I’m glad to hear you will be doing all the same stuff, just with a different name. I myself love the chaplain title. 🙂
That’s so silly. Changing your name is a good solution.
I’ve actually wondered about this since you started writing about it. I would be very uncomfortable if my kid were approached by a chaplain in a public school. I would have definitely complained to the school and might have insisted the chaplain not speak directly to my child. We are a religious minority, and I have no way of knowing that a “chaplain” is not going to proselytize.
Just a new name; same school, same care & love for first graders, and for the staff! Fresno Unified said they have one complaint about the program–there isn’t a resiliency coach in EVERY school. So far, there are 36 of us, which is half of the elementary schools.