Relationships

"There never shall be one lost good. All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good shall exist."

-Robert Browning

It has been a little over a week now since the horribly events at Mattoon High School. Unlike the moments after the shooting, we now know the immediate outcome. We know that because of the heroic actions of a teacher, the incident resulted in zero fatalities. This is nothing short of miraculous. Events like the ones that unfolded just miles from our campus prompt us to reflect on many things as educators. We ask ourselves if our security measures are enough. We wonder how we would react in a similar situation. Could we keep our students safe? Would we have the courage to trade our life for theirs? Most importantly, we ask ourselves how we can prevent something like this from happening here. Having procedures and plans in place for the unthinkable is necessary, but how can we be proactive about ensuring that no student ever feels like the only way their voice will be heard is through the muzzle of a gun.

I spoke about this in a brief faculty meeting the morning after the shooting, but I think it is something that is important enough to write down and revisit. The best way to ensure things like this don't happen here is to get to know our students, and I don't just mean knowing their name and that they play basketball. I'm talking about knowing who they are as people. What is it like at home? What challenges do they face? Do they have friends? What kind of friends? I'm not suggesting a questionaire for every students, but certainly I would encourage every teacher to find ways in class to have conversations with kids. Give them a chance to reveal who they are.

Dr. Bill Daggett of the International Center for Leadership in Education boils his basic philosophy of education down to three principles: rigor, relevance, and relationships. One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever recieved as a teacher came from my principal when he would tell us that kids "will not care what you know until they know that you care." I absolutely believe in the importance of relationships when it comes to teaching. If you want to truly see the potential of your students, let them know that you honestly care about them beyond their grade in your class or whether or not they did the homework. If we can build those kinds of relationships, not only can we hopefully prevent any student from getting to the point of wanting to come here and hurt others, but we will see learning happening as well.

What happened in Mattoon is a tragedy, but I hope that we can also use it as a rallying point to remind us of the importance of our work here and how critical the relationships we form with students are to the overall safety of our school.