A Theme in News Stories

Over the past two weeks, I've spoken to the media about our school more than I have in the past year combined. It started with the story about Ben Lozano's return to school following cancer treatment. This week I spoke with a reporter doing a story on rural school facilities. and a lack of funding that was promised to improve them three years ago from our state legislature. If you're been anywhere near the work on the library hall or the water leak behind the greenhouses this week, you know this is an issue. Yesterday, I got to participate in a story about how rural schools are making school work this year given the specific challenges that we face. Schools and learning are hot topics right now politically, so it doesn't shock me that news outlets are paying attention to what school is like right now and how different school looks in different places. The pandemic exposed some inequities that many of us have known about for years.

When I was listening to one of our Seniors, Meredith Beaman, speak with the reporter yesterday something hit me. Meredith was asked if she thought that virtual learning during her Senior year would hold her back or make her unprepared for starting college next year. Clearly, the question sets her up to say yes, but that's not what they got. Her response acknowledged the work that our school had done to help students, but it also acknowledged a mindset. Meredith told the reporter that she feels more prepared for college after this year because, in college, it is on you to motivate yourself to do the work and participate when you are supposed to. 

While the three news stories are unrelated, there certainly is a theme. Remember back a couple of years ago, we worked hard on trying to teach resilience? Well, something stuck. Think of the resilience it took for Ben Lozano to fight cancer and return to school without scars on his head even fully healed. Think of the resilience that our staff has undergone this year mixed with the struggle of a school that sometimes needs some work to keep it going. And while so much of our focus this year has been on the kids that are not keeping up with their work, don't forget that most of them are. We are a resilient bunch and there are examples of it all around us. And while being resilient isn't always easy or convenient, it gets the job done.