Dear Members of the St. Philip’s Community,
This past week I joined our School Counselor, Molli Robbins, and the School Nurse, Stephanie Begert, in holding Health & Wellness Town Hall meetings to offer support during this new reality. In my message to you this week, I would like to share with you the perspective I offered at the meetings, in the hopes that it is helpful.
Let me start by saying to you parents: You are AWESOME, you are GREAT! Your children love you and being with you simply makes them happy. I also want to say THANK YOU. Thank you for the support you’ve given the teachers during the virtual classes; it is really appreciated. You are there to make sure your children sign in and are ready for instruction. From what I have seen, the children look happy and engaged in this new way of learning. Parents and teachers have a shared interest--we all want to uplift the children. We want to make them feel safe and loved and create an environment as close to “normal” as possible for them. It takes all of us, and it is a team effort. It is said that...“It takes a village to raise a child.” St. Philip’s families, faculty, and staff are that village for your children.
I have noticed recently, in Sacred Studies, how grateful the children are for the gift of time that they now have with their parents--the accessibility to parents during the day, the comfort of their homes, and the fun activities they get to do together. Consistently, when they are asked what they are grateful for, they say their families. They are very aware of all of their blessings, their parents, siblings, their homes, the food on their tables; they lack nothing. And, even though they miss being on campus or visiting a friend’s house or a play date, they most certainly feel loved, secure, taken care of, and joyful.
That being said, it is not realistic to think that everything is rosey or perfect, or that things are now better than they were before. For each one of us, how we navigate this crisis is personal. We don’t all react the same to crises. Our set of circumstances are not the same. We will face challenges during this time. Someone described it as, ‘
we are all in the same storm but not necessarily have the same boats.’
Some of us will have additional challenges that need our attention outside of the family nucleus that quarantines together. Some have grandparents to care for and businesses and jobs that require increased attention. For sure it is not easy and I do not want to minimize the stress this crisis has brought to each one of us. But for me, acknowledging that there are things we cannot control, forces us to look for the silver lining. The children we love are that silver lining in our lives. For them, we must look for opportunities instead of obstacles.
Here is this week’s Chapel led by our Student Council 5th Grade Class Representative, Claire Assalone.
