Identity- Who you are is enough.
Working in a school, the end of the year is a natural time to reset and look forward to what is next. This can be exciting, but as we all know beginnings eventually turn into endings and endings can be difficult. This May like many before, I watched students leave elementary school, a place where they have been nurtured and known. In the fall they will enter middle school, unsure of what to expect and unfamiliar to the majority of people around them. I also saw many young people graduate from both high school and college with high hopes and great enthusiasm for their futures, even with uncertainty ahead. But as I prepared to leave school for the summer this year, it was different. Three longtime employees of our district packed their things and walk out the door for the last time. Each of them leaving for different reasons, they either want to, need to, or feel like the time is right. They all have spent decades serving our students in their positions and this will be a huge ch...