With graduation season and the end of another school year upon us, I was originally going to use this space to talk about transitions and the excitement as well as the sense of uncertainty that often accompanies change.
However, after the mass shooting that took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas last week, it doesn’t feel right to talk about anything else.
Like you, I was horrified by the massacre of 19 students and two teachers. At least 17 others were injured, and we know that the emotional wreckage stretches far beyond the children and teachers who were on campus that day. It will forever affect their families, the Uvalde community, and the world.
Educators have long been called upon to do many things. They teach and inspire students, open their eyes to new ideas and help shape them into the people they will become.
In recent years educators have been asked to adapt to the threat of violence in schools. In this, we are asking too much of them, and of the scores of students and their families also impacted by school violence.
As we do the soul-searching required of us in the days and months to come, I hope that we will each think about what it is we can do personally to affect this issue. We must do what it takes to ensure that no school experiences anything like this ever again.
Glen Mort, Ed.D.
Interim President
