Despite the upheaval in what families are used to in the Elmira school system, school will start. Students will get supplies, attend class, make friends, be challenged. School represents a rite of passage for children; acknowledges their entitlement of education, and mental and intellectual growth.
The teachers may be different, the classrooms may seem foreign, the route to school unfamiliar, but whatever the outcome, students will face the time-honored trials of conquering the next level of knowledge presented them, mastering the grade they are in, and successfully finishing in June.
During this school shakeup and rearrangement of classes/students/teachers/curriculum, we need to be supportive of the primary focus – our children. Give them courage to face the new and unknown, empathy if they miss friends or beloved teachers, and praise for forging ahead despite the wavering circumstances with which they begin the school year.
Caroline Poppendeck, Librarian
Head of Youth Services
Steele Memorial Library