The Power of Our Hawk Family
As I reflect on this past school year, it's hard to fathom just how much we have endured and how far we have come since August. We entered summer break at the end of the 2020-21 school year with optimism and hope that the pandemic was over and we could begin the new school year with a sense of normalcy. Incidence rates were down and confidence rates were high.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 was not ready to relinquish control just yet, and continued to cause chaos for our schools in the form of the Delta and Omicron variants. As a result, we were forced to begin the 2021-22 school year in similar fashion to the way the prior year ended. This was disheartening, to say the least.
While we resumed school with the implementation of universal masking, physical distancing, and other mitigation strategies to keep students and staff safe, we vowed to make in-person instruction a priority.
We knew our students struggled academically, socially, and emotionally the previous year from the unusual amount of non-traditional instruction days. Therefore, our goal was to keep our students in school for in-person learning as much as possible throughout the remainder of the pandemic. Even though COVID numbers in the community and across the state got unbelievably high, we stayed the course.
I am proud to report, through the collaborative work of others, our students were able to attend the entire school year in person without missing any days due to the pandemic! This incredible feat could not have been accomplished without the collective effort from our entire school community.
To begin, credit goes to our students for their commitment to being in school on a daily basis. Parents and families deserve praise for getting their children to school, and communicating with teachers and staff to support student needs at home. Our teachers, counselors, instructional assistants, and other school staff warrant recognition for connecting and communicating with students and families to ensure academic, social, and emotional needs were being met, so students felt safe at school. Our custodians sanitized classrooms and facilities regularly to keep learning environments cleaned and well-maintained for student safety. Likewise, bus drivers and monitors sanitized buses before and after every route to keep buses clean for their riders. The food service staff at each school ensured students had daily nutritional meals to help them remain well-nourished and healthy. Last but not least, our school nurses went above and beyond the call of duty to provide COVID testing, aid in contact tracing, and to keep students well so they could remain in school.
Margaret Mead, renown anthropologist, was quoted as saying, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” We could not have accomplished our goal of providing 100% in-person instruction for the entire school year without the commitment from the group of people mentioned previously. They have no idea the difference they have made in the lives of some children. Being in school allowed students to make gains in academic areas they may have fallen behind in the previous year. Children were able to be with their friends and build much needed social skills. Students were able to make connections with teachers and staff, and had access to face-to-face support. These are only a few of the many benefits our students experienced by having access to in-person instruction on a regular basis.
While this has been a long school year, it has been a rewarding one. Our students, families, and staff have endured much, but have also demonstrated extraordinary resiliency. We’ve learned just how much we need each other to make this thing called education to work, and by coming together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish for our children. As we close out this unique year, I want our students, families, staff, and community to know how much I appreciate you for all you do in your respective roles. If I could alter a few words of Margaret Mead’s quote, it would go something like this, “Never underestimate the power of our Hawk Family to change the life of a child. They do it on a daily basis.” It’s a great day to be a Hawk! Have a wonderful summer!