“Back to School”

Now, there’s a phrase with mixed emotions!
It brings back warm memories for us. We remember the great anticipation, the new clothes, and the fresh school supplies ….
Okay, we also remember the trepidation, about the new teachers, the new kids, and the new challenges. The teachers always seemed tougher in September (school in August?!?) than they had, or would, in June. Yes, the new kids turned out to be nice, and the workload wasn’t so bad, but we can empathize with Sonoma’s students, returning “back to school” with those same anxieties.
For parents, we’ll admit, “back to school” can be a relief. It’s not a different camp each week, or a bored child underfoot. The daily routine is a welcome return.
There’s something reassuring about seeing the business of education bustling again – our community’s business of education. The neighborhood children look a whole year older now, not just three months. They look more confident, ready to face their anxieties without (much) complaint.
As the children climb another year up the K-12 ladder, we are reminded that we, too, have climbed another rung. We don’t count the years, anymore, in the same, fixed way. Are we juniors in life, now, or maybe seniors? Sometimes, we feel like freshmen! Each year bring new challenges for us, and what we learned in school still helps us. Whether a teacher or a staff member, an advisor or a coach, the adults who cared about us then have had an impact on our lives to this day.
For teachers and the staff at the schools, of course, “back to school” means back to work. Organizing classrooms, preparing materials, reviewing curriculum, planning projects – a lot of work before classes even start. And once they do, the numbers and needs of the students must feel all-consuming. We’re not classroom teachers, but we have no little appreciation for the tough task they have taken on. As a community, we expect the teachers to “do it all,” almost literally.
Do you ever think about the tires on your car? Ponder the tough job they do. They have to grip the road in wet weather and dry, on pavement or gravel. They have to handle holes and bumps, preferably without bothering us. They have to stay in control when we stomp on the gas, or hit the brakes.
And when’s the last time you even checked the pressure in your tires? We can’t recall – we just take them for granted.
So, too, we often take teachers for granted. Yet they are the proverbial “rubber hitting the road.” Sonoma’s teachers are the point at which our entire educational system meets the student. Think of the variable “weather conditions” the teachers face, and the holes and the bumps, and the gas and the brakes. Not easy.
This year, parents, make sure the teachers know they’re appreciated. Go to the “back to school” nights for your children, and thank the teachers for the job they do. Encourage your children to respect their teachers, and to appreciate their presence, every day, ready to inspire willing students, as have the generations of teachers before them.
There are great things happening in our schools.