It is the eve of the new school year. For me, this is the beginning of year 32 in education, and year 31 at my current school site. Each new year brings with it excitement and a little bit of anxiety. As a teacher of seniors, it is a true privilege and honor to get to meet these young people on the edge of adulthood, as they are beginning to develop and refine their sense of self and how they intend to make a mark on the world. The kids are the excitement, and the reason I walk into my classroom every day inspired and rejuvenated.
The anxiety comes with the unknowns of the new year, and of course the past year and a half has been rife with unknowns. Along with all of the usual variables of a new school year, we now have mandates, vaccines, variants, social distancing, quarantining... and a whole host of opinions about how all of those things should or should not affect the schools (and the community at large). We still don't know all the answers, and even if we did, they would likely change again tomorrow--and that, my friends, causes anxiety.
You know what won't change?
The kids who walk into my room tomorrow are my kids.
And I will love them and care for them and teach them.
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