Until now...
Tonight I type with a heavy heart. I'm finding my thoughts to be scattered. On one hand I want to tell you all the wonderful events that took place last week and celebrate the successes of my students...and on the other hand I can't stop thinking about the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School. I have been avoiding the blog all weekend. Not because I didn't have time or there was a lack of what to write about. I was avoiding the tragic event that occurred on Friday.
In an effort to shield my own family from this unspeakable event, I made a decision to keep the TV off all weekend. I did not listen to ANY news. Instead I consumed myself with my family! I went to basketball and soccer with Riley, Carly and I did some light grocery and Christmas shopping, I watched Riley play Just Dance 4 on the wii, and today I gathered with extended family to celebrate Christmas early.
Knowing that Monday is only hours away, and not wanting my own daughter to hear about this from someone else, I decided to sit down with my own Third Grader and discuss what had taken place. I kept it simple, not needing to get into too many details. I also explained to her why I was telling her, I wanted her to know that students would probably be talking about it in school and it was ok if she had questions and felt sad. I tried to keep my emotions to a minimum. I reassured her that our school was safe and would be locked as it always is. Surprisingly, the conversation didn't last long. She was quick to ask if she could go back to what she was doing.
A few minutes later she came back with a few questions, one that I didn't know the answer to and told her that matter of fact.
Dr. Maruszczak, Superintendent of schools, sent out an alert now message on Saturday that gave us some helpful hints of what to say and how to handle this situation with children of all ages. Memorial School staff is scheduled to have a meeting prior to the students arriving on Monday to discuss how to best handle this with our students. I realize that all students have experienced different amounts of exposure to this event. It is hard to ignore what happened and there will be a natural curiosity and questions that will come up within the classroom and playground. As always, I will communicate with you anything that seems out of the ordinary, or not typical behavior for your child and I would hope that you will do the same.
If any information changes I will update the website and blog to keep you aware.
I wish I had all the right answers, I wish I could protect all our children from the evil things and dangers of society.
For me, this event put my life into perspective once again. I tried not to let the little things this weekend get to me. I tried to let more things slide that
in the past would have caused me angst. I played more with my girls, gave more hugs, and said the words I love you...a few extra times.
I LOVE my job, but tomorrow will be one of the toughest days I've had to face in my career. This event happened in a town just like Upton. I'm thankful for the kind, caring, polite, and smart students that will help me get through the day and move past this.
As far as the rest of the week, it is business as usual. I plan on keeping our week as normal and on track as possible... with one exception. There will be no formal homework this week. No spelling or reading packets will be sent home. (This was actually decided last week before Friday's tragedy.) I will, however, encourage all students to log on to IXL for 15-20 minutes per night for math practice of assigned review skills AND nightly reading of chapter books is always encouraged.
I will update the website in the next 48 hours hours with a new Blog that details all of the highlights from last week as well as our fabulous send off for Mrs Pittorino.
Until then...thank you for hanging in there until the end of the blog and caring enough to read what I write.
Peace to you and your family.