Hello All,
I am sure you have heard the following from Governor Whitmore in one capacity or another:
“My number one priority right now is protecting Michigan families from the spread of COVID-19. For the sake of our students, their families, and the more than 100,000 teachers and staff in our state, I have made the difficult decision to close our school facilities for the remainder of the school year,” Governor Whitmer said. “As a parent, I understand the challenge closing schools creates for parents and guardians across the state, which is why we are setting guidelines for schools to continue remote learning and ensuring parents have resources to continue their children’s education from the safety of their homes. There is no video chat or homework packet that can replace the value of a highly trained, experienced teacher working with students in a classroom, but we must continue to provide equitable educational opportunities for students during this public health crisis.”
To my underclassmen,
We still have work to do. We still have to keep pushing to attain our semester goals so you are prepared for next school year. You have worked very hard throughout your educational careers to get to this point, do not take your foot off the proverbial pedal because of this unforeseen challenge. Future conversations about this school year will start off like “remember when …,” it will be spoken of like a folktale, but before we get to that point we have to finish it. We have to finish this year strong and focus on starting off next year just the same!!!
To my seniors,
You also have work to do. You too have to keep pushing to finish this year strong, as this is the beginning of the rest of your lives. The manner in which you approach this time away from school will be pivotal to how you approach life after high school. Speaking of high school, I know there were many things you planned to do in your final year, things you wanted to say, caps you wanted to throw. I can not necessarily give you any of those things or make any promises about them. However, I can say with certainty that each of you are ready for this world, for the next step. Ready to make an impact. You have the opportunity to use this year as motivation, as energy to fuel you through future challenges that life will bring. If you can get past (I KNOW YOU CAN) not having the opportunity to finish high school on your terms, then there is no challenge, nor hurdle you can not overcome. I will leave you with this, challenges come to all, but only those who face them have the opportunity for success!!!
In closing,
This school year has ended nothing like any of us wanted or expected it to. However, I am not sad …. nope nope nope! This school year has been an amazing one for me, and its all because of YOU!!! I could not have asked for a better group of young men and women to officially start my teaching career. From September 3rd (first day of school) until March 13th (unexpected last day of school), you all made it a joy to prepare for and teach you! As I type this, I think of each of you, and I can not stop smiling. This year brought about a lot good times, difficult times, times of yelling, and times of laughter! No matter how you slice it, I would not take back any of it, especially not the yelling … lol. On all seriousness, I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, MY FUTURE CJ PROFESSIONALS!!!
As the Governor said “learning” will continue and I will be here to provide it!
Let this be the BEGINNING!!!
-Sgt