Expressions of Hope
After watching several inaugurations with the expectation that it was business as usual, I surprised myself to be so emotional during the swearing in of President Biden and Vice President Harris. I cried with relief, I cried watching a woman being sworn into the second highest position in the United States, I cried for the honesty that is returning to the office of the President, and I wept as I heard Amanda Gorman deliver one of the most amazing poems of our time.
As I heard the words, “Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: That even as we grieve, we grow -That even as we hurt, we hoped - That even as we tired, we tried,” I could not stop thinking about our children and the pandemic. What has this very dark time in history done to them and for them? Academically, many children are struggling. With rigorous courses that had already stretched their executive functions, many are failing at meeting the independence that is necessary for distance learning success. Polls indicate that a significant percentage of students have had grades drop during the pandemic, but despite their struggles, most are trudging along, trying to do the best they can. I am happy to see educators acknowledge their students’ challenges as best efforts and show flexibility. The education community has demonstrated that they care more for children’s wellbeing than rigor.
Despite our children and our education system being stretched by the pandemic, students continue to demonstrate resilience that I didn’t expect to see. Children are hurting by not having the interaction that they crave for school and social success, yet they are continuing to show up online and trying to complete their academic tasks while also creating their safe pods for much needed social interaction. We see hope in their willingness to stay the course and try. Teachers are supporting our childrens’ efforts in ways that I have not seen before. They are putting the emotional needs of their students before the requirements of the curriculum. We will all emerge from the pandemic with a greater respect for community.
It is the community within education, the community within families, and the community maintained by our youth that is most uplifting. It was the acknowledgement of community, within our leaders, that I believe I felt on January 20.We all need to feel that safe community to be our best; Amanda Gorman gave us the words that allow us to express our pain while planning a better future. Our children have shown amazing resilience through the pandemic, they have not given up and, in many ways, have shown tremendous strength. Ms. Gorman offered us the words for so much we were feeling but needed her help expressing. I am so grateful that I stopped and watched the inauguration because I needed to acknowledge the pain, take a deep breath, and then feel the relief that the oaths of office gave me. I think many of us needed that, and all of us needed Amanda Gorman to offer us her amazing perspective.