Thank You

5k Run For the Children of Sandy Hook

I am a mother of two children ages 7 & 9 and a School Counselor.  To say Friday hit me hard was an understatement. We let the boys sleep with us on Friday night we were so happy to have them.  Yesterday I wrote an e-mail to my boy’s school because I thought they deserved Thanks. 

Hello,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for being a part of my children’s lives. Words cannot describe how we all have been feeling since Friday afternoon.  As I heard the news on Friday morning from my Assistant Principal I could not help but picture XXXXX School and the classrooms that my boys have been in. The first picture I saw on the internet had  a tall skinny boy with glasses in the middle of the line and it looked like my Mikey. It really hit me.   But at the end of that line I could see a teacher, someone those kids can count on when everything did not make sense. The teachers that brought them to safety.    

My entire career as an educator has taken place post Columbine.  At the high school level I have unfortunately run the scenarios in my mind countless times. Knowing there is always the possibility that a crisis might arise and a split second decision would have to be made.  I have thought about how many kids I could squeeze into my office and even under my desk.  Never have I thought about it happening in an elementary school.  I am a member of my school CERT team.  I have prepared and taken part of lock down, lock out, hold in place and emergency evacuation drills.  Most of the time I am annoyed that the young adults in this building don’t take them seriously enough. When my husband and I spoke to the boys this weekend, there were so many things that we worried about.   I was happy to hear that my boys knew what to do in a lock down and a number of other scenarios that have been practiced.  Xxxxx has been a wonderful place for Michael and Brendan. It means a great deal to me that my children feel safe while they are at school, and they do.  You are all to thank for that. 

Thank You for the teaching them to read and learn math.  Thank you for your call and emails of concern when they seem a bit off.  Thank You for the calls when erasers “fall” into someone’s ear.   Thank you for listening to a mom’s concerns.   But mostly Thank YOU for keeping my boys safe every day. 

I know so many teachers, administrators, nurses and aides that deserve the same thanks.  This could have happened anywhere.