Superpowers and Change

When I was little, I wore Wonder Woman underwear.

They don't fit me now, but it seems that sometimes I am attributed with Wonder Woman powers. Not the flying kind...but the saving the day kind.



It is true that I have strong powers of focus and a speedy mind. I think I can get more out of an hour than some people can get out of a day.  I also hope that I have strong powers of heart. My conscience drives me. Sometimes my mom worries that I do too much. I do what I do, usually, because I believe it is right.

Therefore, I can understand why it might make sense for a school administration to call on its Superheroes to jump in to help out when another school has a beloved teacher leaving. When kids are sad that their favorite Quest teacher is not going to finish the year, wouldn't it be great to have a Superhero-- or two?--- come in to save the day?

I love teaching and I love my students. I have been asked to come in to save the day, splitting my time between my current school and the younger school that feeds into mine.  

I am not Wonder Woman. I am a teacher who works hard and loves her students. I am a teacher who doesn't just teach six periods a day, but who is there in-between the classes because learning happens whenever it happens. Learning doesn't happen on a clock. Learning is not a Pavlovian response that happens between bells.  I guide my students and colleagues to learn whenever and wherever.

I waited until now to share my feelings, because I thought there would be an announcement made to families. But rumors about this not-quite Wonder Woman spread so fast that even I learned from the rumor mill, before the administration could tell me.  Perhaps the truly supersonic force in this story is the speed of that grapevine.

By now, I know the word is out.  So yes, this not-quite Wonder Woman will be going to two schools. I cannot be the beloved colleague who helps each and every beloved child. Likewise, I cannot work the same magic I worked in one school when pulled to two schools. But I will do my best to fill the world with love and learning. 

Maybe Love and Learning really are superpowers after all.   I just hope they are enough to give me the ability to achieve the superhuman challenges in front of me.

Comments

  1. Concerned ParentDecember 24, 2015 at 10:36 AM

    Emily, To state this as being poorly handled by the administration is an understatement. You're a superhuman but superpowers work most of the time and not all of the time. The students in both schools are the ones that are losing in the bargain. It's a superloss for us and hopefully the administration will communicate officially and listen, with an open mind, to the concerns of impacted parents.

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