Back to School

Back to School!

The gigantic yellow pencils hanging from the ceiling that point us to the section way in the back of the store that is home to $0.50 spiral notebooks, $0.10 boxes of Crayons, glue sticks and Finding Dora backpacks can bring a varied response from all of us when they appear in stores July 5.

For school administrators and teachers, it’s an unwelcome reminder that vacation is finite, and that the pleasure of casually sipping coffee with the glow of George and Robin filling the room with the morning sun will soon come to an end.

For some parents, it’s a light at the end of a very dark tunnel that echoes the pitch of constant bickering between siblings. Their floors are perpetually sticky from melted popsicles, and they’re counting down to those first-day-of-school pictures and a breather from the endless pool parties and play-dates at the beach.

But for some of us, that swinging yellow pencil that most definitely shouts, “BACK TO SCHOOL!” from the rafters brings flashbacks of Styrofoam and tri-fold display projects due, PayPams lunch accounts to replenish, homework to check, meetings to attend and fieldtrips to chaperone. All good stuff to be sure, but sometimes it can be overwhelming to tend to the never-ending pressure and demands of educating school-aged children.

Clearly, I’m the parent who is rocking back-and-forth with my knees to my chest, not quite ready to roll back up the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer. I never am. But without fail, every. single. year. I find myself transforming magically to a very real place of joy over the return to routine. Structure. New opportunities for expansion and growth.

We are a fortunate people, those of us within the Charter Oak Unified School District. This is a community that never rolls over for a little slumber, a little sleep and a little folding of the hands. We have a group of dedicated individuals who travel over summer break to continue their own education and wonder, who attend trainings and conferences that enhance their ability to teach with excellence, who evaluate last year and plan to revisit that which worked, and toss that which wasn’t as successful as hoped. A community that attracts a vibrant PTA that works together all summer to plan and bring the most to our schools in the next year.

The Charter Oak Education Foundation works throughout the summer as well. We planned the events, which will occur during the incoming school year, and we made decisions based on the feedback from our teachers and administrators as to what we will do with the $29,000 we raised last year for our schools. It was decided that we will buy ChromeBooks for each of our campuses but Royal Oak Middle School, who opted for another 3D printer.

We live in a country that mandates the expansion of our young, developing minds through the endless opportunities education can bring, Our children are able to devote at least 6 hours a day, 5 days a week to their education. This is offered to all children, whether rich or poor, homeless, orphaned, and parented alike; equal opportunities to choose the roads that will lead them toward the destiny that will match their gifts and abilities. This is no small thing, yet it is something I too easily take for granted, especially when I see those Back-to-School commercials and find myself cringing. This season of Back-to-School is a good thing. A great thing, and it needs to be celebrated, rather than dreaded. Yes, it will be a year of hard work, but there is nothing worthwhile in this life that does not require sacrifice, rolled up sleeves and good, old-fashioned elbow grease. But our children are worth every ounce of what we can pour into them, and in the end we all win.

Our first COEF event is the Oak Tree Challenge 5K/1 Mile Run/Walk Sunday, September 18, at 8am.