"If you want students back in school buildings, it is time to act like it" - Ben Walker
Since the scientifically driven announcement in late July that the 2020-2021 school year would start remotely for the Anchorage School District, educators of all experiences and levels have worked tirelessly to provide a positive and successful learning environment for all students and families. Educators, including counselors, teaching assistants, librarians, nurses and so many others, have sacrificed their time, money and health to ensure all students continue to grow as we navigate the most severe global pandemic of the last 100 years.
They are calling, Zooming, emailing and texting at all hours of the day and night to check up on students and families. Two-minute check-ins turn into 30-minute group therapy. They are spending hours and hundreds of their own dollars to ensure students have materials for success at home. They are driving door-to-door to drop these off. Sixteen-hour days and migraines are the new normal. They are doing it for the very simple reason they do anything; because it is the best for our students to keep them safe during what looks to be a new peak in a public health crisis.
But the one thing educators, students and families from across the district are not doing is failing. Yet, far too many in our community are saying just that. To say that schools are failing our students is not only CONTINUE READING: glen brown: "If you want students back in school buildings, it is time to act like it" - Ben Walker
