Look how fuckin wrong and stupid you were about vaccines. You stupid old fuck. And at 90 years old i, we should be rid of you once and for all you geriatric libtard piece of shit
As a parent and a teacher, I am beyond exhausted. Schools all over rural America are using Covid funds to build football stadiums and sports complexes, while we continue to not be given masks or even tissues for our classrooms. The school I work at has mandated masks, but the one my children attend do not. We may be all in the same storm, but we absolutely are not in the same ship.
Parents, I am in a one-year, accelerated masters program to become a teacher. My fellow student teachers and I have been attending university classes online (due to Covid) since June, and student teaching in-person since September. We are going in to the profession with our eyes wide open, and paying thousands and thousands of dollars to do it. We know it’s hard for families and school districts and communities right now, and we swirl in the chaos with everyone else, but still we persist. Do you know why? Because we love your children. We are learning to teach through the behaviors and the learning disabilities and the language barriers and the trauma so that those sweet, resilient, remarkable children will grow up to make better choices for themselves and their communities than we have made for them. We grew up with Mr. Rogers telling us to look for the helpers, and we are becoming the helpers. Because just as he did, we love your children.
Our work is not political. We have no agenda beyond teaching your kids. We are not in it for the money, or the status, and we don’t want to “own” anyone. We do want to get to work. So please, get you kids vaccinated, just as we are vaccinated. Please tell them to wear their masks, just as we wear our masks. Please keep them at home when they are sick, just as we stay home when we are sick. We will care for them, feed them, teach them to read and write and do math and be good citizens, but we need them to show up, everyday, without Covid.
Actually, we're sending my Preschooler to more school in 2022. After winter break we realized how detrimental it has been for him to have instability and unpredictability. Prior to winter break he was in 1/2 day preschool with a nanny coming to the house. But the nanny has had a lot of issues with reliability, which then puts the care on 2 full-time working parents...who relied too much on TV and other distractions to get us through. Really, that's been the last 2 years for this kiddo. He was 2.5 when pandemic started and his preschool shut down, then a nanny along with a new little brother. So going into 2022 we are prioritizing stability for him. We got him KN94 masks, which he loves and wears so well. The adults we are around are all Boosted. I've also decided to stop being so scared of Omicron and relying on the science around kids and their risk. My children are not high-risk, so I am lucky in that respect. I also am going to start taking anxiety medication so I do not have such a hard time making decisions based on my fears taking over... I see it as for the sake of my kids. It's been a HARD two years and I'm ready to just find some ease and trust.
I live in Southern California and have a 4th grader and 6th grader. It’s day 3 back at school and my little one has had a sub all week and my 6th grader no math or science teacher. The heater was broken at the elementary school for two days. You may think well, So Cal temps are ok- let me assure you it was 37 degrees when I dropped my kids off for school Monday morning. The classrooms were freezing. Our district was getting at home test kits from the state so we could test on Sunday before sending our kids back to school. But the kits never came. And yet? My kids are at school with who knows how much asymptomatic Covid. I feel truly lucky to live in a community with an indoor mask mandate. But the close contact rules are outlandish. So many children have been forced into quarantine at no fault of their own. This pandemic has truly caused irreparable damage to the youth of today’s psyche. How now, do we put them through another wave of this? Covid numbers today would have had my kids back at home in virtual learning - so I applaud the districts for keeping us in school but I fear for kids around the country that don’t have mask mandates and state and city-level authorities that care about the kids well-being. It’s a scary time.
Thank You, Mr. Rather, for always finding a perspective that is realistic—taking into account the serious, even grave nature of our current problems—and yet hopeful. I’m 71, so I remember Vietnam very well (as of course you do, since you were there reporting it), but as awful a time as that was, it can’t have been as bad as the Great Depression and WWII, which you felt acutely as you’ve described so well. What I’m trying to say here is that your encouragement for us to still be hopeful in the face of terrible problems comes from your own very well-informed experience of history. This kind of encouragement from a man who knows what he’s talking about is deeply meaningful, persuasive, and very encouraging. Thank You for your wonderful writing—I always look forward to your pieces.
The Steady retired principal is so right ! However , I support the idea of our new Mayor in New York City that the schools should remain open if possible. As he points out , the children who are meant to learning remotely are not necessarily doing that.
The parents deserve our praise and attention
And applause. Our generation of parents never faced anything like this .
well...I am a school board trustee. And these are very challenging times, in many ways. With outrage and the unrelenting onslaught of variants it is a constant distraction from trying to focus on catching kids up-academically, socially, emotionally from the last year. Thankfully, the vast majority of Americans ARE supportive of their school districts and employees. The vast majority of Americans are respectful when they voice their thoughts, even though it can get a little emotional at times. We are dealing with the most precious things in peoples' lives-their children. The great news is despite all this, from what I see, trustees and staff remain dedicated and committed to making the best decisions possible depending on local circumstances and remain committed to staying in the pocket despite the anger, threats and projections of calamity from both sides-that is something I continue to be amazed by. I serve because I took an oath long long ago at a military academy to serve my nation and neighbor, to protect them and uphold the Constitution. I remain committed, I just thought(honestly) I would have to worry about Iran, the USSR, Iraq etc-not another citizen. I just thought I would be defending the Constitution externally, not internally. But it is what it is. Just remember we are all neighbors and in the end, we just want our families and communities to not only survive but thrive. Thank you for the article and the thoughtful comments
I think it’s easy to forget that while children might have been relatively safe last year, the teachers and staff were not. Closing schools was an unfortunate necessity in my opinion. I’m a retired teacher. Had I not already been retired, I would have been very afraid to be teaching face to face. I have nothing but praise for the way educators rose to the challenge.
Thank you for your comments. You bring such a level of understanding to important issues and I thank you for that. Again, all sides of the argument. I am an educator since 1976 , 45+ years, .....and still working but not going into schools as I'm more than 65 years old and immunocompromised. However, I do some of my work on zoom, which is not ideal but meaningful.
I am a mom of 2, one in elementary and 1 in middle. Both of my kids are fully vaccinated, and my oldest will get boosted today! Yay!! Our school district goes back to school Wednesday. Even though we all are fully vaccinated and our school district requires masks, we will be keeping our kids home until next Monday. We have been very cautious over the past 2 years, and we don’t feel that now is a good time to let up. We want to give a few extra days to make sure IF people become symptomatic, then my boys will not be exposed. Of course, we do realize that we can’t keep them home forever. In this situation, it seems that waiting those extra few days, will be the best thing for our family.
We began homeschooling at the beginning of this school year. We didn’t learn that virtual learning would not be an option until August so it was a quick transition. Our pre-schooler was not yet 5 so she couldn’t be vaccinated. She also had an airway injury earlier in the year. The level of risk we’re willing to take is lower than most people we know- maybe all. We’re thankful homeschooling was feasible for us, but it also has its challenges (in addition to the rest).
Take a minute to learn about our amazing educational program which has had a unique success in Haiti? We are a 501(c)(3) with the board predominantly Palo Alto-based.
Our free program is for illiterate 9-12. year old boys and girls who have had no previous access to schooling., Designed and implemented by Kelly Kobza, a former Palo Alto Unified School district teacher, our program has a 100% success rate for matriculation from 6th grade into middle school. In 3 years we prepare these children for the Haitian matriculation exam. We teach them math, reading, writing in Creole and then teach them in French because the examination is set in French.
www.greatergoodhaiti.org shows both the program and our expanded new school house built this year by Earthship Biotecture out of waste materials including old tires.
I think your followers would be very enthusiastic about our approach and might help us achieve a more reliable, stable funding stream.
Look how fuckin wrong and stupid you were about vaccines. You stupid old fuck. And at 90 years old i, we should be rid of you once and for all you geriatric libtard piece of shit
Look how fuckin wrong and stupid you were about vaccines. You stupid old fuck
As a parent and a teacher, I am beyond exhausted. Schools all over rural America are using Covid funds to build football stadiums and sports complexes, while we continue to not be given masks or even tissues for our classrooms. The school I work at has mandated masks, but the one my children attend do not. We may be all in the same storm, but we absolutely are not in the same ship.
Parents, I am in a one-year, accelerated masters program to become a teacher. My fellow student teachers and I have been attending university classes online (due to Covid) since June, and student teaching in-person since September. We are going in to the profession with our eyes wide open, and paying thousands and thousands of dollars to do it. We know it’s hard for families and school districts and communities right now, and we swirl in the chaos with everyone else, but still we persist. Do you know why? Because we love your children. We are learning to teach through the behaviors and the learning disabilities and the language barriers and the trauma so that those sweet, resilient, remarkable children will grow up to make better choices for themselves and their communities than we have made for them. We grew up with Mr. Rogers telling us to look for the helpers, and we are becoming the helpers. Because just as he did, we love your children.
Our work is not political. We have no agenda beyond teaching your kids. We are not in it for the money, or the status, and we don’t want to “own” anyone. We do want to get to work. So please, get you kids vaccinated, just as we are vaccinated. Please tell them to wear their masks, just as we wear our masks. Please keep them at home when they are sick, just as we stay home when we are sick. We will care for them, feed them, teach them to read and write and do math and be good citizens, but we need them to show up, everyday, without Covid.
Actually, we're sending my Preschooler to more school in 2022. After winter break we realized how detrimental it has been for him to have instability and unpredictability. Prior to winter break he was in 1/2 day preschool with a nanny coming to the house. But the nanny has had a lot of issues with reliability, which then puts the care on 2 full-time working parents...who relied too much on TV and other distractions to get us through. Really, that's been the last 2 years for this kiddo. He was 2.5 when pandemic started and his preschool shut down, then a nanny along with a new little brother. So going into 2022 we are prioritizing stability for him. We got him KN94 masks, which he loves and wears so well. The adults we are around are all Boosted. I've also decided to stop being so scared of Omicron and relying on the science around kids and their risk. My children are not high-risk, so I am lucky in that respect. I also am going to start taking anxiety medication so I do not have such a hard time making decisions based on my fears taking over... I see it as for the sake of my kids. It's been a HARD two years and I'm ready to just find some ease and trust.
I live in Southern California and have a 4th grader and 6th grader. It’s day 3 back at school and my little one has had a sub all week and my 6th grader no math or science teacher. The heater was broken at the elementary school for two days. You may think well, So Cal temps are ok- let me assure you it was 37 degrees when I dropped my kids off for school Monday morning. The classrooms were freezing. Our district was getting at home test kits from the state so we could test on Sunday before sending our kids back to school. But the kits never came. And yet? My kids are at school with who knows how much asymptomatic Covid. I feel truly lucky to live in a community with an indoor mask mandate. But the close contact rules are outlandish. So many children have been forced into quarantine at no fault of their own. This pandemic has truly caused irreparable damage to the youth of today’s psyche. How now, do we put them through another wave of this? Covid numbers today would have had my kids back at home in virtual learning - so I applaud the districts for keeping us in school but I fear for kids around the country that don’t have mask mandates and state and city-level authorities that care about the kids well-being. It’s a scary time.
Thank You, Mr. Rather, for always finding a perspective that is realistic—taking into account the serious, even grave nature of our current problems—and yet hopeful. I’m 71, so I remember Vietnam very well (as of course you do, since you were there reporting it), but as awful a time as that was, it can’t have been as bad as the Great Depression and WWII, which you felt acutely as you’ve described so well. What I’m trying to say here is that your encouragement for us to still be hopeful in the face of terrible problems comes from your own very well-informed experience of history. This kind of encouragement from a man who knows what he’s talking about is deeply meaningful, persuasive, and very encouraging. Thank You for your wonderful writing—I always look forward to your pieces.
The Steady retired principal is so right ! However , I support the idea of our new Mayor in New York City that the schools should remain open if possible. As he points out , the children who are meant to learning remotely are not necessarily doing that.
The parents deserve our praise and attention
And applause. Our generation of parents never faced anything like this .
well...I am a school board trustee. And these are very challenging times, in many ways. With outrage and the unrelenting onslaught of variants it is a constant distraction from trying to focus on catching kids up-academically, socially, emotionally from the last year. Thankfully, the vast majority of Americans ARE supportive of their school districts and employees. The vast majority of Americans are respectful when they voice their thoughts, even though it can get a little emotional at times. We are dealing with the most precious things in peoples' lives-their children. The great news is despite all this, from what I see, trustees and staff remain dedicated and committed to making the best decisions possible depending on local circumstances and remain committed to staying in the pocket despite the anger, threats and projections of calamity from both sides-that is something I continue to be amazed by. I serve because I took an oath long long ago at a military academy to serve my nation and neighbor, to protect them and uphold the Constitution. I remain committed, I just thought(honestly) I would have to worry about Iran, the USSR, Iraq etc-not another citizen. I just thought I would be defending the Constitution externally, not internally. But it is what it is. Just remember we are all neighbors and in the end, we just want our families and communities to not only survive but thrive. Thank you for the article and the thoughtful comments
I think it’s easy to forget that while children might have been relatively safe last year, the teachers and staff were not. Closing schools was an unfortunate necessity in my opinion. I’m a retired teacher. Had I not already been retired, I would have been very afraid to be teaching face to face. I have nothing but praise for the way educators rose to the challenge.
Thank you for your positive reinforcement, Steady Team!
Thank you for your comments. You bring such a level of understanding to important issues and I thank you for that. Again, all sides of the argument. I am an educator since 1976 , 45+ years, .....and still working but not going into schools as I'm more than 65 years old and immunocompromised. However, I do some of my work on zoom, which is not ideal but meaningful.
I am a mom of 2, one in elementary and 1 in middle. Both of my kids are fully vaccinated, and my oldest will get boosted today! Yay!! Our school district goes back to school Wednesday. Even though we all are fully vaccinated and our school district requires masks, we will be keeping our kids home until next Monday. We have been very cautious over the past 2 years, and we don’t feel that now is a good time to let up. We want to give a few extra days to make sure IF people become symptomatic, then my boys will not be exposed. Of course, we do realize that we can’t keep them home forever. In this situation, it seems that waiting those extra few days, will be the best thing for our family.
We began homeschooling at the beginning of this school year. We didn’t learn that virtual learning would not be an option until August so it was a quick transition. Our pre-schooler was not yet 5 so she couldn’t be vaccinated. She also had an airway injury earlier in the year. The level of risk we’re willing to take is lower than most people we know- maybe all. We’re thankful homeschooling was feasible for us, but it also has its challenges (in addition to the rest).
Take a minute to learn about our amazing educational program which has had a unique success in Haiti? We are a 501(c)(3) with the board predominantly Palo Alto-based.
Our free program is for illiterate 9-12. year old boys and girls who have had no previous access to schooling., Designed and implemented by Kelly Kobza, a former Palo Alto Unified School district teacher, our program has a 100% success rate for matriculation from 6th grade into middle school. In 3 years we prepare these children for the Haitian matriculation exam. We teach them math, reading, writing in Creole and then teach them in French because the examination is set in French.
www.greatergoodhaiti.org shows both the program and our expanded new school house built this year by Earthship Biotecture out of waste materials including old tires.
I think your followers would be very enthusiastic about our approach and might help us achieve a more reliable, stable funding stream.
Our 501(c)(3) is Greater Good International.
Alice Schaffer Smith
Board Member
Greater Good International
Apparently I am blocked from commenting . I did so .