From the Assistant Principal (September 14, 2020):
Dear
Malow family,
This is
my 20th year as an educator. Throughout these 2 decades, there have
been years that started smoothly with very few hiccups. There have been
beginnings that were fraught with fears and anxieties. There has been no year,
however, that began quite like this year. The possibility of beginning a
school year in the midst of a global pandemic had never crossed any of our
minds. Yet here we all are, putting one foot in front of the other, learning
new skills, and existing in a vastly different world than the world we lived in
6 months ago.
Mr.
Manzella and I – as well as all UCS administrators – worked throughout the
summer to prepare ourselves for the different possibilities your children would
be facing in September. While some of this work was typical, nose-to-the-grindstone
preparation, much of it was thought work which involved trying to brainstorm
solutions to hypothetical problems no one had ever considered.
The
main consideration of all of our work was your children, and the predominant
question we asked ourselves and each other for the past 6 months was the
following: How can we make this situation as educationally beneficial,
supportive, and enjoyable as possible for our students? With Mr.
Manzella’s leadership, the Malow team worked tirelessly before September 1 to
establish the process of tech distribution and plan teacher preparation so that
the first couple weeks of school went as smoothly as possible. Was it perfect?
No – nothing ever is. There were minor setbacks and last-minute fixes that we
had to put into place. We anticipated many problems and were able to adjust
accordingly.
What we
could not anticipate, however, was how incredibly resilient your children have
been in the face of a circumstance that we never thought could happen in
modern-day America. We could not have foreseen the willingness of your
children to show us the crinkle of a smile in the corner of their eyes when we
could not see it in their mouths because they were covered with a mask. We
couldn’t have predicted seeing our kids excitedly help each other and their
teachers on Teams meetings when they encountered a tech problem.
We are
so very proud of your children. They have shown us what can happen when one
looks not at the difficulties a situation presents to us, but instead looks at
the possibilities. They show us every day how good it feels to help another
person – even if it’s someone they’ve only seen on a 3 inch by 3 inch window in
Teams. We learn tech tips from them every day, and we are inspired by their
inclination to keep going no matter how new and frustrating something is.
The
most remarkable aspect of your children’s resilience is most obvious when we
consider this situation from their perspective. On Friday, March 13, their
world changed in a way that their parents’ world never had. They left school at
the end of that day, and nothing has been the same. We adults fancy ourselves
to be tough and able to handle anything. If we think back to our 12-, 13-, and
14-year-old selves, can you imagine how you would have handled this situation?
For my part, I cannot. The grit that our children – our babies – have shown for
the past 6 months is truly something to behold. It inspires us every day, and
it keeps our teachers going.
Thank
you for your continued support, your grace in the face of our stumbles, and
your willingness to work with us through the unexpected challenges of this
time.
Sincerely,
Beth
Grillo
Assistant
Principal, Malow Junior High School