Each morning I scan the headlines of the world news but rarely have time to read the stories. This morning I had a chance to learn more about the horrors in the Middle East, Ukraine and Africa and came away thinking that in recent memory, this summer has to be its most depressing stretch of time for world affairs. I am thankful that we live in such a relatively peaceful place where folks are free to focus on oil taxes and how to better manage our salmon. And while our distance from the horrors of the world does allow this peace, we should not be blind to what is going on in our neighborhood.
In ten days all of our schools will again be open. For some of our students this is an annoying end to the freedom of summer. For others however, the resumption of school and the accompanying structure and support is a welcome change. Each of our schools has students experiencing poverty and its associated stresses who will be happy to back at school. This stress is of course not on the scale of that which children in Iraqi Kurdistan are experiencing, but it is very real. The limitations of poverty on learning is well documented and I am convinced how to respond is one of our most pressing challenges. I occasionally hear that schools shouldn’t be offering free breakfast and lunch and that there shouldn’t be social supports for students at school. While I understand the frustration that people feel toward adults on the dole, I don’t feel that we can ever lump children into the same conversation. Let’s give thanks to our staff who buy students winter clothing and school supplies and more importantly, offer these children a chance to be free of some of the stress that accompanies their plight. For many of our community, the end of summer is a time to think about moose and firewood. Let’s be thankful that we can do this, but let’s also not lose sight of the need to support our students in need who are headed back to school.
Supporting our students in need
Each morning I scan the headlines of the world news but rarely have time to read the stories. This morning I had a chance to learn more about the horrors in the Middle East, Ukraine and Africa and came away thinking that in recent memory, this summer has to be its most depressing stretch of time for world affairs. I am thankful that we live in such a relatively peaceful place where folks are free to focus on oil taxes and how to better manage our salmon. And while our distance from the horrors of the world does allow this peace, we should not be blind to what is going on in our neighborhood.
In ten days all of our schools will again be open. For some of our students this is an annoying end to the freedom of summer. For others however, the resumption of school and the accompanying structure and support is a welcome change. Each of our schools has students experiencing poverty and its associated stresses who will be happy to back at school. This stress is of course not on the scale of that which children in Iraqi Kurdistan are experiencing, but it is very real. The limitations of poverty on learning is well documented and I am convinced how to respond is one of our most pressing challenges. I occasionally hear that schools shouldn’t be offering free breakfast and lunch and that there shouldn’t be social supports for students at school. While I understand the frustration that people feel toward adults on the dole, I don’t feel that we can ever lump children into the same conversation. Let’s give thanks to our staff who buy students winter clothing and school supplies and more importantly, offer these children a chance to be free of some of the stress that accompanies their plight. For many of our community, the end of summer is a time to think about moose and firewood. Let’s be thankful that we can do this, but let’s also not lose sight of the need to support our students in need who are headed back to school.