School Matters 01/17/2022

Last week, I participated in one of the many virtual meetings we seem to have in this pandemic era. On this particular meeting, I was the first person to log in and saw each participant as they entered the meeting. One of the most interesting parts of that meeting was my reaction to individuals as their profile came up on the meeting board. It had not been a spectacular day up to that point, and I was not extremely energetic. However, the first three people who logged onto the meeting were exceptional individuals. They care deeply about students, possess an unquenchable passion for teaching, and would do whatever it takes to help students succeed. In addition to being excellent educators, these individuals were also just good human beings.

Upon seeing their profiles on the screen, my attitude immediately improved, and I felt more energized. It is important to note that none of these individuals had spoken a word at that time. Their profiles and smiling faces were the only interactions we had. It suddenly dawned on me that merely seeing these individuals, and knowing their commitment to serving the needs of others, were enough to make my day better.

The next person who entered the meeting was not as passionate and could be a little negative at times. Again, the profile had an impact on me, bringing my energy level down a bit. It was not enough to diminish the positive energy of the first three people, but it did have an impact. The rest of the meeting was a quick quasi-science experiment in which I focused on the people entering the meeting to see how it impacted my personality. I discovered that my enthusiasm and energy increased dramatically when I focused on the individuals who were the most positive. I also found that my attention kept going back to those individuals whom I perceived as being positive because I simply felt better when I focused on them.

Somewhere in the middle of the meeting, the next obvious question came to me which gave me a moment of pause. I began to wonder if other individuals on the meeting were having the same experience as me. Were they gaining and losing energy by seeing other individuals on the meeting? Then came the really tough question. If individuals were indeed engaged in the same process, how did my profile impact their life? Were they more energetic and more positive because they saw me, or was their life a little worse because they spent time with me?

Regardless if we are on a virtual meeting or physically entering a room, we should all be conscientious of the impact we have on others. Some individuals bring so much light, energy, and a positive atmosphere into a room while others seem to extract all energy out of a room. It would probably help us, and all those around us, if we attempted to live a life in which our presence gave energy to those we encountered.

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 have continued to rise since winter break. This week we have approximately 182 active cases. Of these active cases, 121 are students and 61 are staff. As we stated last week, we expect these numbers to rise again over the short term but anticipate this surge will last for just a few weeks. Many experts are stating this surge will burn out in 2 – 3 weeks, and things will return to normal.

2. As discussed in the last article, we are always concerned about closing school. We desperately want students in the classroom to ensure their academic/social/physical needs are met. However, we had such a large number of teachers out of school due to the most current surge that we could no longer effectively staff classrooms. Our substitute fill rate dropped below 50% this week which meant that over half of our classes did not have a substitute teacher. We had been able to place other school personnel into those classrooms, but we simply ran out of staff. It is our hope these two days, in conjunction with the weekend, will help slow the spread of the virus. It is our intent to reopen school on Monday.

3. At this point, we have postponed the vast majority of our elementary, middle, and high school athletic competitions. We are allowing a few competitions, such as swimming, which have their last qualifying meet over the weekend. We fully understand these competitions mean a great deal to both students and parents. It is our intent to reschedule these games and tournaments as soon as possible. However, we did not want to close schools because of safety reasons but then move forward with packing our gyms with spectators. We will review the numbers and disseminate the schedules next week.

4. We have established a relationship with a state-approved testing company to provide us with a 24-hour response for COVID testing. That company, as well as many other companies in the nation, are currently experiencing supply chain issues. The testing kits should have arrived early this week, but the company is having issues with the delivery date. We should have them by the first of next week. When the kits arrive, we would be able to help parents with COVID testing if they want that service. These kits will not be the rapid tests, but we should have the results in less than 24 hours. This will be a free service to parents if you want it.

5. As of January 21, we have used 6 bank days. We have 4 bank days left.

I was involved in a program once in which the presenter talked about how the mere presence of a person in a room could alter the physical nature of that room on a molecular level. All of us can understand that a large number of people in a small room can increase the temperature within that area. However, it goes well beyond what we can sense. There is a molecular change in the air, within the walls, within the floor, etc. when people enter that one. One of the most unique things about these changes is that the modifications to the physical environment is different for each individual. None of us have the same impact and there is something about our uniqueness which alters our physical environment. If our mere presence can have an impact on the molecular structure of a wall – think what an impact we have on other human beings close to us. The next time you enter a virtual meeting, or walk into a room, attempt to bring energy and excitement into your environment. Thanks for your attention to this article and remembers, School Matters!