|
Dear JES Families:
The late Robin Williams once said, "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be Kind. Always." This is such sage advice. Over the last several years we have all seen and experienced some very trying times and are still in the midst of many challenges. For some the battle may be in trying to figure out how to parent a strong-willed child at home, for others, it is their own health battles or caring for a sick parent. The burdens we all carry are heavy and impact our entire lives.
A great book titled "The Body Keeps the Score" talks about the impact of trauma and stress on your body. It talks about the impacts on your emotional health but also on your physical health. Many of us were raised to believe we just had to keep pressing on, and pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, but the truth is that this will only end in a deeper debt paid by our bodies. This kind of perspective, that says just grind it out, is extremely short-sighted - and is the reason we are focused on teaching a better way to the students, staff, and families at JES.
With that in mind, every classroom has a space in it called a Take a Break (TAB) corner. In this space are tools that aid in calming down. If students want to, they can head over to the soft seat in the TAB space and get back on track. We also encourage students to talk about what is going on, we are fortunate to have a great school counselor and also a partnership with Relate Counseling services - should your student want to talk about and process through the challenges they are facing.
I share these because we want you to know you are not alone and we want you to be caring for yourself as well. Please take time for walks and physical activity. Set up a spot in your home or apartment without technology and set up a lit candle or a picture that brings you joy. Just to create a space that feels calm and relaxing for you. If you’d like, meet with a therapist to help you process all that you are attempting to carry on your own.
As many of you know, every three months I go in for scans to make sure that cancer has not returned to my body - these scans create so much anxiety for me that I have learned to rely deeply on my counselor, my community of close friends, and of course all of you. We are not meant to go this road alone - so please make sure you aren’t trying to.
So glad to be partnering with you.
Best,
Pete Morse
Proud Principal
952-556-6510
Morsep@district112.org
| 
