January 25, 2021Transforming the Ordinary into the Extraordinary

“Good morning! How are you today?...Mask on, don’t forget to sanitize your hands!” It’s a greeting that precedes an exchange that happens countless times each morning. As students slow down, shift their bags to one side and pump sanitizer onto their hands, we chat about hockey practice, what video games they’re into right now, how their studies are going...just ordinary things.

But it’s within these seemingly ordinary moments where I think the extraordinary lies. As we’ve navigated the unique challenges of Covid-19, it feels like the ordinary has become so elusive. Something to crave. Something to strive for.

As the school year started and we entered into another chapter of the unknown, our Middle School team made a commitment to be anchors for ourselves and for our students. To stick to the “good stuff”; the connection, the relationships, the solid lessons, the simple joyous moments. To journey back to the ordinary, if you will. 

Being intentional about what is most important for the children under our care, each and every day, leads us to examine what our most basic needs are at the present time. We consider that when so many parts of our lives are ever-changing and unpredictable, walking into a place each day where you can absolutely count on a few certainties helps to ground both our teachers and our students. So we start with the basics, when you can count on: • being greeted by your name and with smiling eyes • seeing the familiar, caring faces of your peers and teachers • learning in an environment where people care about your progress • having guaranteed connection points with people who are “in your corner” homeroom teachers, Ms. Nydr, Mr. Pistawka, Ms. Bryden......it can feel like the roots holding your tree branches down while the wind, and the world, whips around you. That is, the ordinary can feel like the extraordinary. 

Science Fair projects, worries about friendships changing, proficiencies on progress reports, struggles for independence and the associated missteps; these are all very regular things that monopolize so much of our energy and attention. These very regular things can be hard, and they can be frustrating. And in times such as these, where so many things feel new and difficult, it can be easy to feel that these little hallmarks of adolescence are overwhelming. But what if we considered these mundane things to be gifts of normalcy rather than added stressors? What changes could be created by that shift in our mindset?

As we head into another period of change and unpredictability in our journey through this pandemic, I ask you to join me in considering where you can find the extraordinary...it may be lying right in front of you in the subtle moments of your lives. Hiding in plain sight; the extraordinary in the ordinary. 

By Ashley Bryden, Middle School Principal