How’s School Alex?

I have to confess with my work schedule and kids’ sport schedules, I don’t see my kids every evening.  I see them in the mornings without fail and when I do see them afterwards, I generally ask how their day went.  We’re easing back into that routine and my younger son has me wondering how much we’ve gotten right on this new remote school I’ll call CovidU.

My Alex has always been a person of few spoken words.  Most questions pointed his way receive one to two response elaborations.  So when I’ve asked about school historically, I get “good” or “fine” as standard responses.  I’m getting less “goods” and more “okays” and “alrights” these days.  It made me think of the song by Candlebox long before I had boys appropriately titled as such, “It’s Alright.”

And it’s alright, what you confide in me

And I can see things so clearly through tear-stained eyes

The side effects of time in all our good-byes, and it’s alright

There’s more to the song but for a late 90’s hit it served up the staple affirmation of together we’re better. I tried to sell that same message to our principals this morning and I hope my message was heard. They’re battling endless pulls and pullovers from their communities about what school folks should and should not be doing right now.

We heard that feedback first hand this week during our monthly school board meeting.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, what I heard that night was frustration.  Although I didn’t necessarily agree with the speakers that night, I empathized as best I could with their circumstance.

We know numbers will rise as we reopen schools – colleges are proving this theory with alarming precision (Tracking College COVID).  I made a pitch to principals this morning that was less “please don’t quit” and more “this is your moment.”  I believe this to be true and I led my address with the following quote:

“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.”  I reiterated the quote for emphasis but I’m not sure it took.  I saw a room full of education experts exhausted and beyond tired.  And I tend to be one who fixes problems and I’m not sure how to make right what I witnessed.  My staffers made light of some great messages involving folding cheese and not smacking friends, and it was poignant (and funny).  But I’m not sure it was enough and I worry about asking my littlest “how was school.”