Why do we do what we do? I heard the call loud and clear, and it's still sounding...

The weather has turned decidedly cooler, and still damp. I don't like it when summer hides her face like this, but it's partly due to the two full moons and the fringes of hurricanes. I can't change it, so I have to change how I think about it. I have plans (O NO!!) for today, so we'll see how that all turns out. I've got to figure out some personal balance, and today's it. I won't jinx things by recounting what is on the agenda.

That all said, I finally slept better. It's been weeks of broken sleep with chaotic and stressful dreams. I don't know if this is a turn for the better, but it was one night for the better so far, and I'll take it. Better sleep makes for a better day, clearly, so that's a good start. 

I have a meeting at work this morning, one that I requested, to discuss the schedule for the writing lab, which I hope will be reimagined as an academic support center. It's grant-funded for the second year, which is nice, but I have to make it a fixture that requires inclusion in the budget if I want it to continue past this school year. What I need, and I cannot force, is buy-in from my colleagues. I'm there to help kids do the work they are struggling to do, whether the struggle is academic or just having a quiet space to work in. And it's not just for kids who "owe work," either: I want a space that honors the creative kids' needs, too, and that is really hard to come by. So, since my principal is a supporter of this idea, we are going to midrash some sort of way (I hope) to convince my colleagues that the space is open for kids, and they can request/require them to show up. I suspect that, for some of the other teachers, they are resistant because they don't want to admit that some of the kids might not want to go to them for extra help. It's not about ego, folks, is what I want to tell them. It's about the kids and what they need, even if they don't know they need it yet. 

Speaking of kids and what they need, Senator Warnock from Georgia spoke my heart last night at the DNC, when he said,

“I need my neighbor's children to be okay so that my children will be okay,” he said. “I need all of my neighbor’s children to be okay, poor inner city children in Atlanta and poor children of Appalachia, I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza, I need Israelis and Palestinians, I need those in the Congo, those in Haiti, those in Ukraine, I need American children on both sides of the track to be okay. Because we are all God’s children. And so let’s stand together. Let’s work together. Let’s organize together. Let’s pray together. Let’s stand together. Let’s heal the land.”

So yeah, this is why I do what I do, why I've done what I have done, for most of my adult life. I've served on the softball board of directors, I've served as the education consultant for the Frost Place, I taught catechism for years to somewhat reluctant teens, I have been a teacher for 37 years. I've had dozens of kids in my home who needed to be fed, whether literally or emotionally. I just want them to be okay.

Have a good day. Hug a kid, buy them a pizza, pray for their survival.

C