A Book, a Few Poems, and Some Gratitude

Good Morning!

I hope you are all enjoying these dog days of summer and soaking it all in these last weeks before we begin the 2018-19 school year!

I am sharing a book and a few poems with you today.  The book is called Teaching with Heart; Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner with a foreword from one of my favorite authors, Parker Palmer.  It is a collection of "ninety treasured poems that is accompanied by an educator's brief personal reflection on how poetry helps them make sense of the challenges and possibilities of their work." (front flap).  It is a brief window into the life of educators and their experiences - "joy, outrage, heartbreak, and hope" (front flap).  Here are two of my favorites...so far:

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have begun our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

                                                    ~Wendell Berry

A Teacher's Contract

Between the teachers and the city

there exists a contract,

full of legal obligations on both sides,

pay steps, duties and responsibilities,

all to be negotiated.

But there is a higher, more important contract,

that requires no lawyers,

no arbitration, no picket lines.

It is a contract given, not stated,

ironclad and universal.

It is written on the smart board,

demonstrated in the halls, surrounding

student desks and classroom walls.

It is a contract automatically renewed each year,

forged in live, witnessed daily.

It is never up for discussion or a vote.

It is unchangeable, immutable.

And in Newtown the contract 

remains, unbroken in life, in death,

consisting of only two words:

"My kids."

                                   ~Mel Glenn

This would make a great gift for a teacher!  Teaching~a demanding and rewarding profession, to say the very least.  As we ease our way out of summer and into the new school year, we all have a tremendous opportunity to lean into this transition with grace and gratitude for those who choose to teach.  Sometimes it is smooth sailing, and sometimes the waters are rough.  I ask this year that you communicate in both times, and with the same grace, in a way that honors teachers, learners, and our entire Stone Bank community.  You are all so very lucky to have the teachers that I have had the pleasure to work with over the summer.  The common thread amongst this community is echoed in the poem above, A Teacher's Contract. Your kids are our kids and we can't wait to start the 2018-19 school year with them, and with you as we partner in education.

We will see you all soon!

Sincerely,

Beth Wartzenuft