Why respect and remembrance allow us to move forward
I began writing this post on the 19th anniversary of 9/11.
A flood of memories washed over me as I recalled the moment we watched in horror as the world we knew appeared to be ending. It was incomprehensible that two thousand nine hundred ninety-seven lives would be lost. September 11, 2001 seemed destined to become the watershed event of our lives and we wondered how we would ever get back to normal.
Fast forward to 2020 and now, in retrospect, the lessons of 9/11 are refreshed and even more relevant. The incredible power of human resilience built scar tissue over the wounds we suffered and over the years, while never forgetting, we climbed back to normalcy (if there is such a thing).
After the longest March break in history, we’ve all been excited to have the kids come back to school. Yes, we have some very stringent new protocols to follow and it feels somewhat odd but hearing the chatter and laughter in the hallways and classrooms is heartening. I think we sometimes take for granted the joyous squeals, laughter, and even tears let out by our students. After six months of preparing for a safe-as-possible return to campus, it was absolutely wonderful to have our students back. It was not an easy journey to get to this point, but it was truly a labour of love. Thank you, to our school community, for your continuing support and for encouraging your kids to be key players in our mission to preventing the spread.
All of these events and memories have resulted in me thinking about the powerful respect I have for our community and the ability of all of us to respond to unthinkable situations with grace and fortitude.
Our school and the society we inspire our students to build revolves around the need for all of us to embrace the power of mutual respect. Respect for differing perspectives, races, creeds, and individuality forms a key pillar of our approach to education.
And, part of the approach revolves around being mindful of the lessons we can learn from history and how that learning can free us to imagine alternatives as we move forward.
“When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems.”
- Steven Covey
Another aspect of respect comes to the forefront when we collectively encounter unusual stress and that is the need to show empathy for one another. While all of us are dealing with the added pressures of uncertainty regarding our childrens’ health and welfare we need to be mindful of how we express our concern to everyone involved in their care. Our teachers are frontline workers who have shown nothing but passion, compassion and commitment during these past several months.
While acknowledging that, as parents, we have the interests of our children at the heart of our motivations we’ll all accomplish more when we express our concerns with understanding, patience and peace. Our mutual interests are completely aligned and we need all parents to understand that being respectful in our exchanges is critical.
After all, the mission to make good people involves everyone of us and we adults should be modelling the behaviours we want to see in our children.
Finally, whether it starts with remembering the shock of 9/11 or adapting to the reality of mask wearing and constant hand-washing that COVID-19 has brought us, respect for one another is the common road we can travel to recovery and building a future that brings us freedom of thought and action.
We are so delighted that the children are back with us travelling forward, always forward.