The DLC recently interviewed Jillian Lewis, an educator with 30 years of tenure, about her experience in school leadership during the pandemic. Jillian had intended to make Spring 2020 her “farewell tour”, heading into retirement following 10 years as Principal of Brentwood Park Elementary School in Burnaby, BC, with her sights cast towards travelling the world with her partner, and embarking on a second career as “DJ Groove Heart". However, COVID-19 called her plans into question.

Recent highly publicised police killings of black and Indigenous people, the response of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the resulting global protests against racism and police brutality are defining a moment in our collective history – this moment.

Booklists are everywhere these days. It makes sense that many of us are soothing our anxieties and money worries, and replacing other leisure activities by escaping into books. But reading is so much more than an escape, or a lovely way to relax with a cup of tea.

Reading educates our hearts

So many people I know in the business world either don’t read books at all, or they just stick to industry publications and work-related reading. Others only read Business, Leadership and Self-Development books–designed to help move them forward in their careers or keep on top of their game.

Are we missing out on something special if we don’t read Fiction? I believe so.

What would it look like to put caring and compassion at the top of our school agenda?

For Jessica Cronck, a teacher at Peachland Elementary School in the Central Okanagan, it looks like inviting her Kindergarten/Grade 1 students to “Camp Care-a-Lot”, where learning takes place through outdoor education and a focus on well-being. Acknowledging the challenges and hardships students everywhere have experienced since schools closed earlier this year, Jessica has transformed her classroom into a “tent party” and adjusted her approach to prioritize social-emotional learning, joy, and connection more than ever before.

The re-opening of schools can be a stressful time for many children and parents as they navigate yet another turn on this journey of parenting in a pandemic. With return to school being voluntary here in Canada, parents are asked to make an impossible decision during a very confusing time. There are no ideal options out there today. Information provided is incomplete, and guidelines lack clarity. The only thing we all agree on is that school life will be very different.

Looming on the horizon for many teachers and families is the partial return back to the classroom, while continuing to swiftly adapt to virtual learning.

The DLC recently interviewed Derek Elliott, a grade 5 & 6 teacher in Powell River, BC about his teaching practice and vision for creating a culture of belonging to welcome students back to school. Instilling in students a sense of safety and community is pivotal to learning at this time–and the value of teachers cannot be understated, by virtue of their ability to create the conditions for meaningful learning to take place, starting at the social and emotional level. 

When the crowded Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person on the boat remained calm and centered, it was enough. It showed the way for everyone to survive. —Thich Nhat Hanh

The world could use some extra love and kindness right now (and when can it not?). The COVID-19 pandemic revealed to us how globally interconnected we are–and that just as disease holds no regard for the artifice of borders, so too can acts of kindness have expansive effects, beyond our greatest comprehension.

This worldwide experience is unique to most of our lifetimes.

For some it is “strange times’, and for some it is a “crisis”. We are all on our own journeys, and as Mother’s Day approaches, I became curious about how my children see this unique time in history.

These “children” are 24 and 20 years old, and there are 5 of us all together in our home. My husband and I, our son and his girlfriend, and our daughter….and then there’s Henry, the Beaglier, who joined the family just before Christmas. His job is to keep things interesting.

Our worries and stresses during this time are mundane and mostly minor.

But I wanted to know, from my grown kids' perspective….What are they learning? And how did their childhood experiences prepare them (or not) for this situation?

Communities of educators, caregivers, and families around the world have inspired us with the unique learning experiences they are designing for their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) in Vancouver is one example of a school that rose up to the challenge of creating connection beyond the confines of physical distancing in a spectacularly creative way: by orchestrating a school-wide parade.