By Andrew Niblock
During the last days of school, I had a conversation with a friend about the emotion of the remarkable year-end events that were taking place across our campus. We were joyful, we were profoundly grateful, and we were both tearing up—we had to change the subject to avoid literally weeping.
While I am admittedly on the sappy side, I wager I am not the only one entering the first days of summer with mixed emotions.
We have all earned a break. This year has been unprecedented and unpredictable. It has demanded much and moved the goal post with frustrating regularity. That we were able to complete the school calendar largely in person and outbreak free is something special. This is the time of year we celebrate achievement milestones in commencement and moving up ceremonies. These events took on even greater meaning this year, knowing what everyone had to do to get us to this point.
Families have entered into the education world with a required partnership like never before. Even in a return to campus, the added stress of COVID-19 restrictions made for exhausted children who needed support and guidance when they got home, even if they didn’t always realize or appreciate it. For those families that participated in remote learning options by choice or necessity, it meant sacrificing their own commitments to support their children’s learning at home.
Thank you.
Faculty who put in the hours to prepare perfectly in a normal year doubled down. They took online courses on how to deliver better online instruction. They were nimble in their planning so that they might be nimble in their instruction. They were relentless in their preparation so that they could feed the drive in their students to be relentless in their learning. They cared deeply so that their students would never doubt the transformative power of a caring classroom environment.
Thank you.
School staff cleared every hurdle with a smile and a product that remained second to none. The meals were delivered and delicious; the grounds were beautiful commensurate to the learning going on within; we welcomed a vibrant new group of students and families; our finance and development offices ensured our fiscal health; our technology team connected us; we continued to recruit and hire personnel that are second to none; we felt secure through the expertise and the care of our intrepid safety team; our nurses and trainers patched us up and propelled us forward; our administrative assistants organized the chaos; and we told the story of our amazing schools with heart and flair. Only through herculean collective efforts were our schools able to thrive.
Thank you.
It wasn’t perfect. We slipped. We snapped. We whiffed. But, we learned, and we have reached the finish line with a flourish—our students have graduated knowing they can persevere through extraordinary circumstances. So, now we head into summer… I am just not sure how I feel about it… and, I am definitely not alone.
In an unpredictable year there was predictability in the joy to be found on campus. With hurdles around every corner it was nice to know there were friends to go over them with you. When it felt like everything was upside-down there was someone, a teacher, a friend, or a child, who was there to remind us that upside-down has its benefits.
I love summer. I am really looking forward to the next few months. But, I am giving myself permission to miss a lot of things about this crazy year.
I might even get a little misty.
