At the start of this very cold week, the Southeast Cornerstone School Division sought to introduce some warmth to the heart with a very appropriate tribute to their staff, calling them “Unsung Heroes”.
Putting out posts on their website and on twitter, the school division had a message from the board for Teacher-Staff Appreciation Week, which runs from Feb. 7 to 13.
“The challenges that have been thrust upon us since March of 2020 are unprecedented,” said the message in part. “You have had to be flexible, courageous, resilient and to change the ways you are accustomed to doing your jobs.”
This has certainly been true of the teachers and staff members of our schools, and I hope every parent and community member is fully aware of the hard work they have been doing and are continuing to do now.
After the lockdown last March to the end of the school year, teachers have been behind the eight-ball so to speak to get their students back on track in this current school year. I don’t envy having to be in that position, and I have to greatly admire their hard work in accomplishing this.
I also have to point out, however, it’s not just the school staff who are “Unsung Heroes”, as many people in a great many other positions and facilities and services have also had to go above and beyond.
It hasn’t been easy for those who are on the front lines of health care, going from the staff who do the cleaning up to the doctors and nurses who administer the care to those who need it, whether it’s COVID-related or not.
Then there are those in the “essential services” who have also been working hard to make sure we have what we need, whether it’s supplies, groceries, meals, gas or whatever it is that we and our families require to keep on living.
The struggles each of us have are different, because our health and personal situations are all unique.
Contrary to the memes that keep claiming “we’re all in this together”, it’s far more accurate to note we’re all in the same storm, but we’re all in different boats. We all have our own challenges to face during this never-ending pandemic. While we hope that the vaccines will help us go back to normal, even that solution has challenges.
