How do we let our parents go? Throughout my life, I have loved, and felt loved by, my dad. But it is only in sharing the past four months so intimately with my mom that I have come to love her with an authenticity I haven't known since young childhood. I will pay for this experience with heightened grief when she dies. This is the price for the unexpected chance to mend our relationship with laughter, poems, bubbles, stories, puzzles, forgiveness, and Bridge.
My friend said her mother is at peace. I wish my friend such peace as well.
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Yesterday I met on ZOOM to discuss our high school's plan for returning to teaching/learning during the pandemic.
The teachers in the meeting asked questions about the logistics of social-distancing 400 students, scheduling additional lunch periods, supervising shared spaces during morning hall duty, accessing hot water for hand-washing, and checking out library books (to name a few).
While the bold strokes for starting school are in place, many specifics of HOW are yet to be determined.
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Last night the school board discussed the Return-to-Learn plan. The meeting was live-streamed via a local radio station. The board asked questions about the availability of PPE, how teachers will manage students distanced across two classrooms (plus online), how we can prioritize masking even if not mandating it, and what cleaning protocols will be in place.
I feel the heavy weight on our school board's shoulders. I could hear it in their voices. They are ultimately responsible for the decisions that may lead to illness or even death in our district. Unless they want to resist through legal recourse as some larger districts are doing, they are pretty much forced to keep putting one foot in front of the other as we march, lemmings, to the sea.
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Today I stopped by Central Office to talk to the superintendent. I was relieved to see people in the front office wearing masks, and the superintendent had his meeting space re-configured to allow for good distancing as we talked. These small actions increased my confidence in my district. This doesn't mean I think no one will get COVID when we re-open. (My bets are on a COVID shutdown by Oct. 1.) But I did not know what to expect when I entered; masks and distancing helped lower my heart rate a little.
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I thanked the superintendent for wearing a mask during the graduation ceremony last Sunday. I'd seen photos of the event, and while several people on stage were unmasked, the superintendent modeled responsible masking. He said he wears a mask in stores as well.
This is good. In a small town, school administrators, and even teachers, have leadership roles. We are not invisible, and our actions send messages.
Next, we moved to the reason I was there: I had questions about his attribution in the previous night's board meeting. (The CDC recommends masks in schools; it is the Iowa Department of Ed's directives that contradict this.) While this may feel like quibbling, I do not want my district to lose credibility with our community by failing to accurately attribute the guidelines we are following--especially when guidelines conflict--which they do.
We talked briefly about teacher trainings offered over the next two weeks, before a brief sidebar to praise the journalism department's student leadership lined up for the coming year.
I left feeling a little calmer, and a little more positive about the coming year.
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It's sweet corn season, so life is good.
Enough.
Be well.
Write.
Allison
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| Wee Wolf in a nappy. |
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