On the last Friday of the school year
❤️ Thank you teachers, principals, and school staff ❤️
On the last Friday of the school year, teachers, principals, and school staff are counting down the minutes ‘til the end of the day, ‘til the end of the week, ‘til the end of the school year.
It’s only four more days.
We’re gonna make it.
Happy hour. Vacation. Time for family and hobbies and rest.
It’s all so close.
But today, on this last Friday, it was different.
Today, teachers, principals, and school staff implemented the safety plans they so frequently practice yet so rarely use. They walked children down steps into basement hallways and used their calm voices, honed to perfection over the years, to teach their students to cover their heads and necks as they kneeled along the wall. They dried tears and gave out hugs. They answered millions of questions, explained tornadoes and hail and lightning in the simplest, most straightforward terms to provide the exact right amount of information that would bring down the anxiety instead of making it worse. They stayed late waiting with students as their buses and families made their way to school, navigating through neighborhoods of uprooted trees and downed power lines.
And they did all of this as they worried about their own families and homes and vehicles.
When the students were gone, they walked out to parking lots and side streets to survey their vehicles for damage. Blown out windows. Crushed windshields. Dented body panels. They checked school buildings for damage, photographing broken windows and toppled stone, all while wondering what they’d find when they got home. Or if they’d be able to get home at all.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for doing everything you can every day, the calm days and the stormy ones, to keep our children safe physically and emotionally. Your commitment to the work is unmatched and your sacrifice does not go unnoticed.
If you, your colleagues, or your students have been impacted by the storm, please send details about fundraisers, needed resources, etc. and I will do my best to elevate. Comments are open to everyone on this post, so feel free to add them there too.
Check on your friends and neighbors, everyone. Stay safe and take care of each other.