School Matters Week of 02/07/2022

Recently, I saw a meme which showed two men laying in hospital beds with IVs in their arms. The first guy commented to his buddy that he really appreciated the donation of a kidney. The second man said that it was not a problem and that he was happy to donate a kidney to his best friend. The first guy then commented that he was going to live forever now that he had a third healthy kidney!

Most of us have commented, at times, that we would donate a kidney or take a bullet for our friends. Those words are easy to say and have little consequence because the vast majority of us would never realistically have to follow through. Few of us would have a good enough friend who needed a kidney and who would actually be a match. The majority of us would never encounter a situation where we had to step in front of a bullet for a friend, pull them from a burning building, or be required to perform CPR. There are times when this type of heroic action would occur, but it is limited to a very small percentage of people.

However, there are little things we can do each day to help others. I suspect we all fail to fully understand the importance of small acts of kindness and how much of an impact it can have. I was an elementary principal for ten years. I loved to work with the most at-risk children because often they would have no one else to champion their cause. There was one specific child that I worked with from kindergarten through fifth grade, and I cared a great deal about him. He had a number of social/emotional problems and struggled with school. His family situation was horrible, and he never knew who his father was.

This child was special to me, and I thought of him as a son. I did a number of things to give him an opportunity to have positive experiences. Specifically, he had a passion for hunting and fishing. He caught his first fish and harvested his first deer with me. I paid for his field trip to Washington D.C., took him to see the ocean for the first time, brought him school clothes each year, took him to the doctor when he was sick, and attempted to be there when he struggled with his behavior. He was far from being perfect, but he did have a unique personality and possessed a kind heart. Perhaps I liked him so much because I had experienced some of the same things he was struggling with when I was his age.

I accepted a position in Colorado when he was in the fifth grade. A teacher put together a book for me in which all the teachers and students wrote what they liked most about me. It is one of the most special possessions I have as a public-school educator. Each page of the book had a picture the students had drawn and a few simple sentences describing their best memory. The kindergarten stories were basic with more focus on the pictures than the written section. However, some of the older students wrote about how I visited them when they were in the hospital, listened to them when a pet had died, or attended one of their basketball games.

All the pages were precious, but I especially wanted to see what this young boy had said was his most favorite memory was. I remembered his excitement about harvesting that first deer, catching his first fish, and watching his face when he saw the ocean for the first time. I was interested to see which was his favorite. He began his story by saying that one day he had to sit on the bench at recess because he had done something wrong in class. He said that I came by and sat down beside him. We did not talk, but he said that I allowed him to lean into me. He thought this was the most special memory because he remembered this was an especially tough day and he was struggling. He had no one to turn to, and it felt good to lean on someone for a short period of time. The part that got me the most was the end of the story. He said that he never knew what it would be like to have a dad, but this was what he imagined it would be.

After reading what he wrote, I tried to remember that day. The experience that meant the very most to him was a day that I could not even recall. It did not cost me anything, and it did not last but a few moments. Of all the experiences we had, this small encounter was the most important thing to him. All of those experiences we had together were incredible, but in the end, he just wanted someone to lean against. He wanted to feel safe and feel comforted for just a few minutes.

Perhaps we could all learn a valuable lesson from a fifth grader. Not all the important things in life center around money, events, or experiences. It sometimes seems that we attempt to buy the love of others with expensive gifts or trips because we do not have the time to share ourselves. It may be the ultimate gift of love when we focus on the small things and give of ourselves to family and friends. In the end, this is probably what we will be remembered for the most and not the expensive gifts.

Please review the following information and contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Also, please remember to email Mrs. Webb (webbk@hcboe.net) if you have other questions you would like us to address in future articles.

1. Our COVID numbers are steadily receding, and we are seeing the lowest numbers in several weeks. This week, we had approximately 73 active cases. Last week, we had 153 cases, so our numbers are almost down by half. Of these active cases, 60 are students and 13 are staff.

2. We began COVID testing for students on Tuesday, and it has gone relatively well. This week, we have identified approximately 8 staff and students who have tested positive. This enabled us to isolate those individuals from others and help limit the spread of the virus within our schools. The major issue we currently have is the delay in knowing the results. The samples are collected each evening after school and analyzed during the night. The results are posted in the morning around 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. School nurses read the results online and notify parents. The question we have struggled with is whether to allow students to return back to school to next day or stay out the next day after they have tested.

We will use the following protocols to govern whether a student stays at home or returns to school since we will not know the results until the next day. We are asking students to stay home if they have been tested and their symptoms continue to worsen. Please do not send children with multiple symptoms to school. Students who have been tested may come back to school the next day if they are feeling better and if they are not presenting any symptoms. We will call parents in the morning to notify them of the test results. Parents will be asked to pick up children who have tested positive, so please do not send children to school if they are not feeling well or have worsening symptoms. Parents can keep their children home if they have any doubts and can bring them back to school after we make those morning calls. As we stated in the past, it is important to understand this testing is clearly voluntary and will require explicit parent consent before any testing is done.

3. We have had several local food vendors provide an incentive for Hamblen County School staff on February 7 for our monthly Celebrate Education program. We appreciate and would like to recognize the following businesses who elected to help us: Red Bud Deli, Texas Roadhouse, In/Out Pizza, Freddy’s, LongHorn Steakhouse, Little Dutch, Olive Garden, Chick-fil-A, O’Charley’s, and Buddy’s Bar-B-Q. They have all agreed to provide discounts for our staff on February 7. We sincerely appreciate their generosity and support of educators.

4. We have rescheduled our February School Board meeting to February 15 at 6:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Central Office.

We had a full weekend planned for my granddaughter and we spent a significant amount of money to entertain her. As we drove her home on Sunday, she told us that her favorite part of the weekend was when we laid on the floor to play with her. Often, those around us may not be looking for expensive gifts but simply someone to lean into for a few minutes. It would probably be of greater benefit to the world if all of us focused more on giving our time to others and focusing on the small things. Thanks for your attention to this article and remembers, School Matters!