Happy Last Days of School! What a year it has been! Our Executive and Visionary Director, Susie Theule, summed up this year beautifully in her forward of the school yearbook. If you did not get a yearbook or if your kids have not given you a chance to look at it, read here Susie’s eloquent synopsis of this unforgettable year.
All I truly know is that we rise and fall as one . . . We may not know the way through the forest, but we can pick each other up when we fall, and we will arrive together.
—Colson Whitehead
Dear SLOCA students and families—
WOW. This has been a year for the history books! Just as we have read about the plagues and pandemics of years past, so now we have lived through one ourselves, with stories to tell, adventures to report, grief to pass along, and beautiful moments woven throughout.
SLOCA has always been a community that comes together to figure things out. This year has been no exception, although it has truly required us to dig deeper than perhaps ever before to make it through our journey. This year—the COVID-19 year—was an adventure we did not choose. But it was an adventure that was put before us (like it or not), which meant we were often in the dark, we usually didn’t know what would come around each bend, we sometimes were anxious and afraid, and quite frequently, we were just very weary of it all. We were weary of wearing masks, of not high fiving and hugging and hanging out at sports events, of not congregating in the library over lunch, of keeping the windows and doors open when it was cold, of meeting outside while the wind blew our papers about.
BUT, we made the best of it and in doing so, proved not only that we have what it takes to travel through hard terrain, but that together we have what it takes to find beauty in the difficult, we can practice joy and gratitude in the face of challenges, we can be flexible and full of hope, and we can show resilience and courage and diligence. All this means that together, we have become more hearty, which one dictionary defines as “loudly vigorous and cheerful, robust and healthy.” What a great way to describe our community!
Well done, students. Thanks for hanging in there through all the wackiness of the year. Well done, parents. Thanks for digging deep with us to make the most of the year, and for showing up for your kids. Thank you, teachers and staff, for holding fast and picking each other up when we fall. I am so proud of everyone, and so grateful to be a part of our community.
We have arrived together. That seems to be the best way through life, doesn’t it?
In it with you,
Susie Theule
Executive and Visionary Director
Despite this being a year of challenge and “wackiness” as Susie said, many beautiful and amazing things have still happened. Share in the comments below a memory or moment from this year, or an example of making the best of it, or just a story about embracing our theme of Together.
