Humble Pie: If we want to do it, we have to do it right - Davis Enterprise

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Protecting the teachers is Step 1 in getting our kids back in class. Courtesy photo

Last night after dinner and an episode of “WandaVision,” our family sat together in the living room discussing how difficult the last 11 months have been.

Like every person in Davis, our country and the world, our routines, plans and relationships have been upended. In our house with four teenagers, all of them students, nothing has been harder than the loss of in-class learning.

As our kids talked about all the things they have missed, including friends, athletics, dances and all the activities a normal school day used to bring, the conversation steered itself to memories of past school years. Almost as a challenge, each teenager took turns naming every teacher they’d had, from preschool to this day. More than 100 teachers during the course of 16 years and with each of them, a multitude of lessons and memories.

There is a lot of debate right now around when our kids should return to learning in the classroom.

When will it be safe? When can our teachers know that they will be safe and their families be safe? What about the teachers who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 because of underlying conditions? What about teachers with vulnerable family members? Is it enough for the experts to suggest that the return can be “relatively safe?” How can we get vaccines to teachers? How do five-year-olds keep masks on and how do third-graders socially distance? What about the new variants?

Expert opinions, science, unknowns and ever-changing conditions can feel, all at once, encouraging, confusing and terrifying.

As my family and I try to see our way through all of this, I can’t help but realize, in the midst of the uncertainty and frustration, something I have always known: The steadiest, surest, most competent and compassionate presence comes from our teachers.

When we say we want our kids back in school, we are saying we want them back with their teachers. When we worry about their mental health, it’s because they aren’t thriving without their teachers. When we talk about school being the safest place for them to be, it’s because at school, they are with their teachers.

This is precisely why, in the cacophony of information and opinions that seem overwhelming, we should be listening for our teachers’ voices right now. If they are the entire reason we all want our children back in class, shouldn’t we make way for their voices? Shouldn’t we do absolutely everything in our power to make sure they are safe?

Of course we should.

I appreciate the guidance of experts and I know they are offering their best advice as they know it today. I also appreciate the passion of Davis parents who realize how very important it is to physically reunite their children with teachers.

The fact is, though, the experts and parent groups are not the ones who will be there with your children for the remainder of their school career. The CDC Director won’t be there when your child cries every day of his first week of kindergarten. Dr. Fauci won’t be there when your first grader has trouble reading or your second grader has a bathroom accident. Health officials and physicians won’t be the ones calling you when your 10th-grader is struggling in chemistry.

They won’t be there. But our teachers will be. Just like they always have been.

Our kids shared lots of memories last night, many funny, some thoughtful, and some, absolutely striking.

The four of them recalled being in lockdown on the floors in their dark elementary school classrooms and knowing it wasn’t a drill. All of them remembered exactly what their teachers did during those hours to keep them safe and calm, playing quiet games and reading them stories.

One child shared about being so homesick in first grade that her teacher sat with her during lunch every day for a week.

When I asked what were the most valuable things they had learned from their teachers so far, aside from academics, the replies included lessons that have had positive impacts on every member of our family. Maev spoke about learning how to continue on with a project even when it doesn’t go the way she had planned it.

Molly shared about having a greater understanding of empathy after reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” in ninth grade. Emme learned the concept of active listening and Mick talked about how the value of Growth Mindset, a different and positive way of thinking, has added to everything he does.

I can’t speak for every parent in Davis, but in my case, I owe our teachers more than I could ever give them. No PTA-planned-Aloha-themed teacher appreciation lunch would be enough. No gift card, no “Best Teacher in the World” coffee mug, no gift basket would come close to adequate for the time, encouragement, knowledge, expertise, kindness and love they have given to the people I love most in the world. They have helped my husband and me build these children that we are so proud to parent.

I think about the lockdowns our kids and teachers have endured over the years and the risks that come with being a teacher today. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that in the most dangerous situation, one that might threaten any of our children, our teachers would do everything they could to keep them safe.

Now it’s our turn to keep our teachers safe.

As the debate about when to return to school continues, you will find me listening to the teachers, supporting the things they support and calling for all the mitigations they want and need to return safely to school.

When we look at our kids, safe and smart, and yes, struggling, we should realize, our support right now is the very least that we owe our teachers.

— Shelley Dunning is a Davis resident and a mom of four. Reach her at [email protected].

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February 05, 2021 at 03:00PM
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Humble Pie: If we want to do it, we have to do it right - Davis Enterprise

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