A School Committee member Thanksgiving

For those who test the lights and warm up the engines

Before swinging the big yellow buses out into the dawn;

For those who unlock the doors, check the heat and lights,

Opening the school to greet the day;

For those who staff the crosswalk in all weathers,

Red STOP in one hand, beckoning wave with the other;

For those who count out the milks and the fruit and the cereal,

And greet each breakfast eater with a welcome;

For those who ensure the computers work, and the buses run, and the snow gets plowed; 

For those who explain just one more way, just one more time, just one more day; 

For those who come alongside each individual child for the bit more support to get them there;

For those who see the student who is hurting or scared or lost or confused,

And make sure they are not alone but cared for;

For every headache or upset stomach or COVID test or playground collision met with care and concern;

For the perfect next book to read, the right match for job training, the stretch for college, the call for outside support;

For each talk outside of class that traces behavior back to source;

For those who work to improve practice, to create resources, to support those still learning to reach kids;

For every phone answered, every door checked, every tardy student welcomed, every visitor welcomed;

For those who order the materials, process the payroll, pay the bills, file the reports, update the enrollment, plan the bus routes, comply with every regulation and law;

And for those who make sure that all of the above happens;

For anyone who wakes up at 2 am, wondering how to reach that one kid,

And for anyone who wakes up at 2 am, wondering how we can do this all just a bit better;

For every child,

Every day,

For all of this and more, I am grateful. 

Written in memory of WPS School Bus Driver Isaac Beauge, who died last week.