Stories of Us - October 2, 2020

Stories of Us - October 2, 2020
Posted on 10/02/2020

Partnership Educators,


There is certainly so much to pay attention to in this environment that we find ourselves in.  We can certainly get overwhelmed just by trying to listen to all of the information swirling around us.  Most people will try to control the overload by focusing on a few bits of information.  We can also be susceptible to focusing so much on all the information that we lose the center on our purpose or just perspective on the entire narrative.   I certainly have fallen into the narrow focus trap as we have moved from one thing to the next thing.  


Today I had the opportunity to just sit and listen to Kelli Nicolay help some of our instructional staff continue learning about great reading instruction at the K-3 level.  It really helped me to center myself around what is important about what we do. Hearing her talk about the simple but effective routines for helping our little ones focus on the words was calming.  We take care of many little tasks along the road of compliance, communication, problem-solving, paperwork, and logistics that we sometimes forget why we are doing all of that.  At the end of the day, it is about kids, learning for their futures, and working to try to do right by them.  Not every decision that we make works out the way we envisioned it.  At the end of each day, we can at least learn from them and try to do better.

 

On September 19, 2020, we lost one of our district members to an illness that was discovered last spring. Meghan Pires was a lead cook within our district and a friend to everyone. Her freely given smiles will be missed by all who knew her. We are thankful to have had the time to work with her and know her. As one staff member put it, "She greeted every student with a smile and was such a great asset to our family. Rest in peace Meghan. You will always be in our hearts at Manzanita."


We did have members of our district community who tested positive with COVID-19 this week at Bonny View and the District Office.  Our district and site level COVID Liaisons worked with Shasta County Public Health.  Contact tracing was done and identified staff members and students have been quarantined.  Shasta County Public Health defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes regardless of face-covering use.  The small numbers of staff and students is a testament to the cohorts and distancing guidelines that we follow. The importance of our continued support of distancing with each other or others while on or off-campus is a responsibility we all bear.  I have been emphasizing this a lot lately and don't think I can underestimate its importance. In accordance with Public Health guidance, the school will continue to operate in-person instruction.  As a reminder, please continue to monitor your symptoms and stay home if you are experiencing any two of the following: fever, chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, a new loss of taste or smell, nasal congestion, or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea.  Your healthcare provider can help you determine if you need a COVID-19 test or you can take advantage of Rite-Aid, or the OptumServe appointment system at https://lhi.care/covidtesting

 

I know that many of us are looking forward to the full opening next week with excitement for our kids and for ourselves.   Although many of our new safety measures did arrive this week, some have not arrived yet and that is disappointing to me as well.  I am monitoring the travel of those items as I write and still hopeful that I will be at schools this weekend setting them up.  In reality, they tell us most likely Tuesday and Wednesday.  As soon as they arrive we will have them put in place.

 

Igo School will remain closed at this time due to evacuation orders still in place.  Cal Fire was using the campus for staging.  Shasta will be opening once again on Monday with all of its students.  We are glad to be back with our kids at Shasta.  I can't say enough about the leadership of Kim Miller at the Igo and Shata Schools.  As one staff member put it, "What an amazing, strong, positive, supportive person through this whole tragic event.  First, the Carr Fire out at Shasta and now this out in her little community of Igo.  I really admire her." 

 

I wish everyone a joyful weekend,

Rob    

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