Letter from the Principal - May 2020

May 12, 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

Bear with me, this is truly a letter of hope.  

I will never forget Friday, March 13, 2020. I am not superstitious, so I didn’t wake up expecting that would be the last real day of the 2019/2020 school year for any of us, particularly for our seniors. When I left the building that day, my intuition told me that we may not be returning for a while. Instinctively, I also knew it could be the last day of students and staff in the building together.  

I clearly remember a senior coming into the office and asking, “Ms. Passman, does this mean we may not have graduation?” While I acknowledged it was a possibility, I didn’t believe it would become a reality. I also didn’t know how hard this would be. I don’t think any of us did. We didn’t want this for ourselves. We certainly didn’t want this for our students or our children.

Teenagers do not see the same world we do. Our students often remind us that they were born into a post 9/11 world. They tell us they are growing up in a world of mass shootings — in schools, at churches, and at large community concerts and events. They are concerned about climate change, mental health, and anxiety, along with violence and hatred. Now they are facing a world-wide pandemic where they can’t even go to school. No one could blame them if they became cynical. 

Here is the hope part. We recently surveyed seniors and their parents about graduation. The parents, like so many of our staff, offered creative and exciting alternatives. The adults wanted the very best for their children and our students. The overwhelming comments from students were, “We want a regular graduation. We just want to be together again. We want to see our teachers, to thank them.” They wanted simple. They wanted ordinary. They wanted humanity. Cleary, they haven’t grown cynical.

If you listen to the critics, they will tell you our teenagers can’t communicate and are the “social media” generation; that they don’t care about human interaction. We all know from experience that isn’t true. We see it again now. They want to be in school so they can be with their friends and their teachers. The critics are wrong. This generation craves and thrives on human interaction.

It may take years for our world to return to normal. The world’s new leaders will emerge from this generation of young people. They will reimagine this world to be what our founders had envisioned. They will create a world where people are more important than material possessions and where peace and justice prevail. They will remember that they are in the holy presence of God. They will love God and the dear neighbor without distinction.  

Be proud, parents. You raised them to live a life of courage and perseverance in the midst of adversity and to find joy in the midst of humanity.