School Days

By Becky Nelson
BRAMBLINGS
Kids have been back in school going on two weeks now. I am beginning to hear reports of family school activities and sports accomplishments, and the leaves are starting to show a blush of fall. It doesn’t seem possible that the calendar is flipping pages so quickly. I am quite removed from the every day of school days, having left my career in the schools several years ago to work full time at the farm and now being a grandparent of school kids, not in the thick of things as a parent. Back to school still evokes some memories and feelings, however.

This year I watched my grandkids enter their own school careers in the elementary school, both excited to see friends and make new friends and enjoy the challenge of learning. A lot has changed from when I entered the same school they are attending when I felt a certain weird combination of anticipation and melancholy as the school year started almost six decades ago. We never started classes until after Labor Day, and it always felt like the end of summer, creating a personal sense of loss. Despite some hot, summerlike days after we began, the laissez-faire days of getting up late, working in the sunshine, swimming, biking, hiking, sunbathing, reading a book in the shade of a tree days were done. The days of picking out the right clothes, getting up early to catch the bus, staying up late to write a paper, spending time on the phone with a friend, socializing and learning in the walls and halls of the school had begun, and I anticipated school with that weird angst most years.

When I go into stores now and see folks buying school clothes and supplies for their kids, I think of all the school runs I made as an adult as my own children loaded up with a new backpack to carry their school supplies…notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, colored pencils, more notebooks, more pencils. The expense of supplies and new clothes seemed overwhelming some years. I don’t miss it. Having worked in the local school system for several years, I do miss the fun of seeing folks I hadn’t seen for a few summer weeks. It was almost the same as it had been as a kid, catching up on friend’s summer adventures and looking forward to unknown school day adventures. I also miss the students, as there is little more exciting than seeing a kid grow and learn and mature and develop. There are so many teacher and staff shortages this year that I worry that the problems of the day and the challenges of short staffing may cheat the educators of some of this excitement.

I have tremendous respect for educators this time of year. They hold the same types of angst and anticipation that the students do, with the added pressure of responsibility. They begin a long stretch of working with individual students who each bring a different set of learning styles, backgrounds and “baggage” to the classroom that will affect how they learn and retain information. The teachers are challenged to meet each individual’s needs while disseminating a daunting amount of information. Not an easy task, and not one that many of us are willing to take upon ourselves as a career, though we are quick to criticize and frequently vote to underpay these folks.

It is easy to criticize teachers for working what we might perceive as short days, having extensive summer breaks and being hard on our kids. When we then try to remember our own kids at the most outrageous of moments at the dinner table, defying house rules or struggling with homework, we might begin to realize the indescribable value of a teacher…who has twenty or so of those kids with all sorts of unknown and unseen personal challenges vying for his or her attention, fooling around, not listening, disrupting the classroom, struggling to grasp a concept…every single school day. And then those teachers head home not always to enjoy a relaxed evening but to correct homework, plan lessons, correspond with parents, attend after school functions and get ready for another day or another week. Teaching isn’t easy, and we don’t give teachers enough respect. It’s a darn tough job.

Here at the farm, vegetables still need to be picked and farm chores fill my days now, but I still think of all my educator friends and family and all of their students as they tackle another year of learning. I hope you families of school kids and you teachers and mentors of these future workers and professionals all have a safe and rewarding school year…teachers and learners alike. For all educators, I hope the staff shortages and the daily challenges of new methods, new security threats and new politics of education don’t disrupt your passion for teaching and learning and that the rest of us take a few minutes to afford you all the respect you deserve. For all families of students, I hope you can step back a bit and enjoy the successes of your children and their interactions with their educators. Wishing all happy school days.