Closing Letter--Ending Our School Year

Dear Families,

I want to thank you for sharing your children with me this year. They are precious and I have loved each one as an individual and I have loved our entire classroom community as a whole.

It is an honor to be a teacher and to learn from great minds and hearts. I value the things your kids have shared and the many discussions and learning opportunities that we have had.

When the year began, we had no idea it would be ending with a pandemic and with loss of life and riots. Both COVID 19 and our history of racism have caused us to mourn many lost lives.

There are no words for this sadness and if we had been together in class, we would have brought our feelings to our community circle to share. This was hard to do in a remote setting.

In case your family would like a resource, I’m including this link, which is a read aloud entitled, “Something Happened in our Town”.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WpcFrnWFdw

One book cannot explain four centuries of racism, but it is a starting point for young kids. I encourage your family to have a discussion about the fact that racism is not only cruel, isolated instances at a certain point in time, but rather an exhausting reality for our brothers and sisters who suffer from regular and systematic injustices. One very helpful resource is TeachingTolerance.org.

Here is an article I would have liked to discuss with our class in our community circle: https://www.tolerance.org/moment/racism-and-police-violence

If we are to be a community that values love and safety, we must understand that the suffering of some, is a burden that ALL of us must bear. This weekend, I had the honor of walking peacefully with dear friends to honor the fact that too many lives have been lost.

We would have closed our year with a second mini-poetry unit and sadly, this could not happen. But I found myself using poetry to reflect on my feelings as I walked with dear people. I am no poet, but I share it with you because I hope you will find ways to honor life lost and walk beside grieving friends.

Thank you for reading this email. It will be one of my last of the year. I close by telling you once again how much I have loved and appreciated your children.

Love, Christy 

Walk On

By: Christy Wilson

Another walk.

Not in the park.

But along the street, in a long line.

In clusters, among friends.

Signs, shirts, names.

Walking.

Again.

Reminding ourselves what the world keeps forgetting.

Black lives matter.

We have to walk.

Again.

We must remind ourselves and the world

Because another unarmed man is murdered.

Another life is lost.

How long must we sing this song?

Sunday, Bloody Sunday already happened.

It keeps happening.

Signs, shirts, names.

Fears spoken.

Tears shed.

Another walk.

Not in the park.

Other Resources: Race, Racism, Anti-Racism, and Racial Equity Resources