My Work

This could have been drawn today by one of the students at Roberts! Say Yes!

With the long hours, the constant reconfiguring of paperwork, the scheduling and creation of safety and protocols for summer camp, the work we've all been doing has been stressful. My calves hurt from running to one end of the school to the other trying to get work done.

But yesterday, everything was put into perspective. A little girl going into first grade was sitting sullen on a set of steps. I sat with her and after a little while, she began to tell me why she was upset and why she refused to participate in a dance class. It was because of another little girl who was bullying her, she said.

I went into the room to get the bully and to begin peer counseling. When the tyrant came to me after I called her name, I had to chuckle. The girl was a tiny creature and just a wood sprite...at least 1/4th the size of the upset girl in the hallway. I played my coaching role and the bullied girl explained how upset she was that the bully cut her in line while walking from the swimming pool. Together, we came up with a plan to resolve budging in line which now utilizes a peace symbol.

Here I was at age 37, sitting on the linoleum floor creating treaties with elementary school girls. It was a quirky reminder in an extremely busy day of how important it is to take every situation seriously. The bully thought she was in serious trouble. I wanted to give both of them a dish of ice cream and sing an Elmo song.