A Parent’s Year End Thanks to Teachers
The following was a letter read during a year-end virtual Reimagine Learning Workshop at Graland School in Denver, which was facilitated on June 4, 2020 by World Leadership School. With tears in their eyes, teachers headed off for a well-deserved summer break.
My name is Sara Knickerbocker and together with my spouse, Ryann Peyton, we have one child, Archer, who just finished 2nd grade in Carrie Vonderhaar’s class. I am excited to be joining the Graland Board of Trustees and appreciate the invitation to be here today to speak on behalf of the parent community. I am a psychologist by training, but before that, an independent school teacher. So I think I have some insight into you, and your work, and yet still I worry my words today will be inadequate.
At our house on Tuesday night, we had the “Peytonbocker Remote Learning Academy” End of Year Banquet complete with slideshow, award certificates, and tears… mostly (but not exclusively) mine. So no promises I will make it through this without some leaky eyes. If ever there was an experience that affirmed the importance of restoring humanity in the classroom, this has been it. There are a lot of emotions to process, and I welcome and honor yours.
Ms. Vonderhaar doesn’t know this but when we came to pick up Archer’s belongings, she was up ahead and then disappeared before we pulled all the way forward, but I wept at the sight of her WHOLE HUMAN SELF having only seen her head and shoulders in her Zoom Room/Hollywood Square/Brady Bunch Box for all these weeks. She was hard at work, wheeling student belongings out to pick-up line. Carrie is a master teacher who is good at honoring the whole self of her students, but this moment is about honoring YOUR whole self.
So, I want to start by expressing gratitude for your WHOLE SELF.
To the juggler who managed your teaching duties AND your toddler or teenager.
To the tech novice/tech resister who staggered to the finish line and will happily abandon your device at the first possible moment.
To the napper. The painter. The home organizer. The fitness buff. The meal planner. The lonely one. The activist. The puzzle master. The video genius. The email responder. The snacker. The soon-to-be-retiree.
To the introvert who enjoyed more time to recharge and the extravert who longed for new ways to energize with people in virtual spaces.
To all the days you said to yourself with word or action “I don’t want to, but I am choosing to” or “NOT. ANOTHER.ZOOM.”
To the ones among you who uncovered joy and new skills… and maybe even had a moment of thinking some part of this was even kinda fun.
To the part of you that enjoyed more time with your family, OR the part of you that fantasized about being back in a normal routine to have some space away from your loved ones.
To the part of you that preserved tradition, and the part of you that innovated.
To the WHOLE SELF who had, worried you had or cared for or lost a loved one to this virus.
TO ALL OF THESE PARTS OF EACH OF YOU that make up the WHOLE SELF you brought to this endeavor, I EXTEND A DEEP BOW OF GRATITUDE.
And if you are feeling slightly less than whole as you wrap up the 2019–2020 school year, I want to say…
To the teacher who was told more rigor… you are enough.
To the teacher who was told more social emotional learning/more connection… you are enough.
To the teacher who was told do more, do less, do different — YOU are enough.
No matter what the parent emails said, no matter the outcome of a debrief or survey, no matter what… enter the summer knowing that YOU are ENOUGH.
I will say, we as parents floundered without the structure of school life and contributions of teachers in the day-to-day lives of our children. Who are we if our kids are not at school? Who are we without our end of year celebrations? Who are we if we can’t motivate, bribe or beg our children to watch a video lesson or complete an assignment? So many efforts to make meaning, and, while the meaning formulates, we are left with gratitude.
So on behalf of parents in our community, I say… I hope we are more humble. I hope we are more enlightened about the skill, talent and heart that goes into being a teacher. I hope we are even more appreciative. Slower to doubt. Faster to grant grace, bestow trust, lean on the utter brilliance of this impressive faculty. Thank you for fielding MANY MORE EMAILS than you have ever received before… some of them likely a product of misguided parent stress. Thank you for being patient with us as we tried to learn the content and manner with which you so expertly teach.
Above all, thank you for knowing our children. For reaching through the screen to give them a place to plug in for some sense of connection and routine. For keeping their hearts, bodies and minds engaged. For knowing where they would rise to the challenge, and where to back off. For knowing their uniqueness… and how that manifested in the remote learning world. This knowing… this integration of relationship and instruction is pure gold. I hope you will celebrate the MANY ways you showed up for your students and their families.
In closing, I want to thank you for facing into the logistical, academic and social emotional challenges of pandemic teaching. And wow, as you bring this year to a close, another national crisis calls for our attention and action.
I know your work is not finished as you spend this time with World Leadership School, and I know that you are all likely to spend time over the next several weeks or later this summer working toward next school year, and so my final words are these… I hope you will rest. Relax. Recreate. Rejuvenate. REST… it is a requirement.
THANK YOU again for facing into this challenge and the uncertainty of the future with your WHOLE SELVES. YOUR vulnerability, courage and determination is what our children — and their parents — need to see. On behalf of the Graland parent community, I say THANK YOU again for all you are and all you have done. Have a restful summer!
