The Journal presents my weekly reflections on being a private, Catholic school principal during what promises to be a year filled with energy, excitement, challenges and possibilities…
I can imagine how many lives my son has already inspired in his 3 years as a teacher. I can imagine how many students my grandmother taught in her multiple decades in the classroom. I can imagine all the lives of the young people my uncle and aunt and cousins have changed.
I wish I had clear memories of helping my grandmother decorate her elementary school classroom. I have been told many times that my older sister and I would, late in the summer, accompany Grandma to her school and assist her as she put up bulletin boards and cleaned desks and got ready for the coming of the fall. I remember the stories of this far better than I remember actually doing this.
Grandma taught elementary school for her entire adult life. One of the fixtures of her kitchen was a commemorative plate indicating the years she had served at Brown Elementary School. It was prominently placed on the wall above the table at which I ate so many meals. Her time as a teacher meant so much to her.
Grandma influenced generations of teachers just in our family. My uncle, her son, was a college professor and his daughter is one, too. My aunt, married to one of Grandma’s other sons, also was a college professor for many, many years. Her daughter directs a kindergarten and her son is in the midst of switching careers, planning to begin his next chapter of life as a high school teacher. That’s 3 of my cousins who are teachers. My niece’s husband just secured his first teaching position after serving as a student teacher this year.
I have been a high school educator and administrator for almost 30 years.
My son, who turns 24 today, has dedicated his life to teaching as well, earning his master’s degree in education and following in his father’s, relatives and great-grandmother’s footsteps into the family business. I couldn’t be more proud of him.
For her part, Grandma never told me she was proud of this legacy and she might not have recognized it as such but a legacy it surely is.
I cannot do the math, but I can imagine how many lives my son has already inspired in his 3 years as a teacher. I can imagine how many students my grandmother taught in her multiple decades in the classroom. I can imagine all the lives of the young people my uncle and aunt and cousins have changed.
I imagine it to be a very, very large number.
Thank you, Grandma, for starting the family business. Thank you, my son, for continuing the tradition.
Even in the midst of this pandemic, I would not change this work and I would not alter Grandma’s legacy.
We dropped to one case this past week. One. I am not certain if this is a result of vaccinations or herd immunity rising or families simply not telling us anymore, but I suspect it’s a combination of these factors. I am glad of the lower numbers, to be sure. With weeks to go before the end of the year and senior finals in our school beginning today, I am crossing every apendage I can that our numbers remain low for the next 14 days…