The Grand Canyon: A Letter to My Faculty

As I look at the school year ahead, all I can see is the Grand Canyon. The learning landscape is like sedimentary rock. It is built layer by layer, day by day. Students learn skills, forget them, and relearn them. Over the course of the school year, they grow. Over the course of many school years, they transform.

That layered growth isn’t just for students and it isn’t just for school. Our sense of normalcy is built similarly. Going to work, grocery shopping, time with family--we live these experiences daily, make adjustments occasionally, and move forward. Every once in a while, we intentionally disrupt that equilibrium in order to, paradoxically, maintain an appreciation for that balance; that weekend camping trip is fruitful because it happens every once in a while, allowing us a breather that serves both to disrupt routines and to regain an appreciation for them.

Once in a century, though, a pandemic hits.

As we begin this school year, I see the layers of school culture, community, and best practices that we have built day by day, layer by layer, carved by a torrent of new guidelines and safety measures. Unlike the slow erosion of the Grand Canyon, this river came swiftly. It brought with it masks, multiple entrances, outdoor classrooms, and a whole new way of being in schools. We have been forced to adapt and to develop skills we never asked for.

It is unsettling for obvious reasons, though one aspect of this new school year that prevents me from finding my footing is that it is less a school year than it is a week-by-week. This week may be vastly different than next. To that end, it is hard to look ahead at a school year.

Instead, we are taking it one day at a time. That slow unfolding of the year is challenging, surely, but I am hopeful. I am hopeful that within challenge lies growth, even if we cannot see it. I am hopeful that within these days and weeks, we will come together in ways we didn’t before. I am hopeful that as we see students learn to adjust, we will remember that we can as well. I am hopeful that as we see them seamlessly develop new skills and stamina, we will see the same in ourselves.

The Grand Canyon is notable because of the destructive force of the Colorado River. We don’t look at the Grand Canyon in that light, though. We see it as a magnificent Wonder of the World. I am hopeful that as we continue to navigate the unsettling waters of the school year, we will be able to take perspective and see all that we are doing, all the ways that we are growing while helping our students grow as well. We may not be able to see that growth everyday, but I assure you it's building layer by layer.

You are our Grand Canyon.