As we creep closer to the end of the school year, I want to extend a deep gratitude to all those who have taught through this year. We were called upon to do extraordinary feats, almost always without any kind of compensatory relief for that effort. It is something that is common to the teaching profession; a financially unfortunate, yet noble characteristic of those who serve by educating children. These past several school years has probably stretched us farther than ever before.

We have all had to sacrifice something to make it through. I personally had to suspend my role as the athletic director, because we literally did not have sport this year. It will return this coming school year in some fashion, but for this year, there was nothing (which was also a sacrifice for the students). To compensate for the loss of one of my biggest roles at the school, I returned to the upper elementary classroom to teach and help manage one of the pods. Going back into teaching mode meant a sacrifice of time; I spent hours upon hours prepping lessons and simulations for the students, as well as working with students in the classroom, while still maintaining my responsibilities as at the PE teacher. Teaching PE this year started as me watching the students in gym class from my office, and the students could see me on the projector like a big Wizard of Oz. I had to work extra hard with all the assistant teachers who were physically in the class to facilitate the lessons since I could not be personally there. Later this evolved into the ability to meet all of them in person in the large gym once I was fully vaccinated. And I was also teaching a remote at-home pod the whole time as well.

Why do we sacrifice? Sacrifice involves pain, and It is in our nature to avoid pain. That is one of the main functions of our sensory and nervous systems is to help us navigate the world to avoid pain. Yet sacrifice demands that we go through a planned and purposeful hardship. Are we going against our nature by embracing the pain that comes with sacrifice?

Maybe sacrifice is built right into our DNA, especially in advanced animal species that care and nurture their young. Whether guarding an egg or caring for their young internally, mothers literally sacrifice their bodies and energy to ensure the safety or their offspring. Mammal mothers literally turn food and energy they eat into food and energy for their baby. Humans are no different in the care of their young, but our young are vulnerable for so much longer. We sacrifice much more time, resources, and effort to ensure that not only to they survive, but they thrive. As parents, think of all the financial sacrifices that you have committed to without thinking twice, ones that were painful but necessary, to provide the best for your child(ren).

Early humans had animal sacrifices which were made to the gods to win approval and bring good fortune. We see remnants of this today as modern humans sacrifice their time by going to religious services. Some adults sacrifice energy and time at gyms to stay fit. Other adults sacrifice money they have today in hopes that it will grow over time. What else could we call sacrifice?

Sacrifice is the ability to take on hardship in the present for greater good of the future. I believe that sacrifice is also another way of saying investment

This sounds like exactly what teachers were asked to do this year. We sacrificed hundreds of hours and tons of energy so that our students, the future generation, would have the best possible educational and personal future possible considering that we as a society were traversing a pandemic of unprecedented scale in our life times. Teachers across the world put in an extraordinary effort for the sake of the future of our society. Maria Montessori said so eloquently herself with these quotes:

The child is both the hope and a promise for mankind. Within the child lies the fate of the future.

As we approach this holiday weekend, we think about the ultimate sacrifice of our military, the investment they made to keep our country safe. This Memorial Day weekend, I can’t help but think of my grandfather who fought in WWII. He is the namesake of my son, and while I never got to meet him in person, I feel a special connection to him through the stories I heard about him, as well as the connection that I have with my own father. The fact that he survived WWII, as well as all the soldiers that served under him in his anti-armor unit, which fought in some of the hardest battles of the war (like the Battle of the Bulge) was an astonishing feat. Not all of our soldiers were as fortunate as my grandfather to make it back alive, so we take time to remember them; to remember all those who lost their lives during war. The sacrifice of their lives is the ultimate price of an investment in the continuing prosperity of our country as a whole.

As a small small way to celebrate Memorial Day, I posted another free lesson for download in the Free Resources Section, which you can find here. This lesson integrates with the science fair, which in the coming weeks, I will have some incredible research results to share with all of you! I will also throw a 25% off sale on everything for the week with promo code MemorialDay as thank you to our teachers as we finish out the 2020-2021 school year.

Happy Memorial Day everyone, and thank you for your sacrifice.