Monday, March 22, 2021

Good morning everyone, today is Monday March 22, 2021. The weather once again promises to treat us well today with temperatures reaching almost 60 degrees. It makes you want to get out of the house and enjoy yourself.

Amanda went for her first vaccine shot Friday, in preparation to return to school on April 12.the Newark board of Education has set that day to reopen schools. We all must realize schools across the nation have to reopen and reclaim the business of teaching children. This was inevitable, schools cannot stay shuttered indefinitely, as it is we will see the residuals of remote learning for years to come. Children need to interact with teachers and other students to develop properly. However, I can only pray that the administrators and top educators again across the nation stay vigilant on the protocols needed to create a safe environment. Something I believed they were very lax on in the past. After all these are our children and grandchildren we are talking about, as it is they are returning to schools different from their experiences at home than we have ever seen. So the top must be held accountable for their safety and well being. I am not only talking about the students , I’m also talking about the adults in the building, I was an educator in the city for over 30 years and a union representative. Again the teachers unions must watch what is going on in the buildings, I have seen all the problems with overcrowding, closets for classrooms, over expectations for the teachers. I want to make sure this pattern does not happen again, now we are talking about our lives. Teachers please listen to what the union tells you, yes I agree sometimes it seems they do nothing but they ultimately are there to protect your interests and it does work believe me, but don’t start giving in and doing what is not required of you.

I will miss Amanda in the morning over our coffee sessions, she has been here a long time already first the maternity leave for Dario and then the lockdown, but it is time for her and all her contemporaries to return to teaching normally. After all that is what they went to school for, we educated them so they would not stay at home like the women of the 40’s and 50’s. I am not degrading that in any way but that was the world then and this is a very different word today especially now. Also remember I come from a time when women were technically becoming equal with men and could hold any job they chose, something I believed all my life I didn’t need any women’s movement to teach me that.

Now today enjoy life don’t waste this beautiful day. Remember the saying yesterday is gone, tomorrow is the future live for today. We will talk soon Til Tomorrow!