November 2021

 

ACT President’s Message

Dealing with the pandemic’s impact on our schools has been challenging. In the past couple of years, we have been tossed around like ships on unsettled seas with no land in sight. We were removed from our classrooms unexpectedly with little notice and were asked to continue with our role as educators in a completely unfamiliar online environment. When we returned to in-person instruction we were inundated with new safety protocols and the additional challenges that occurred with students who are struggling to find their way back.

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Now, with in-person instruction in full swing, we face daily challenges with the enforcement of mandated safety protocols on top of disruptive student behavior. The behaviors and attitudes we are experiencing from students are not atypical coming out of a pandemic, and we have been called upon to help transition our youth back to a healthful post pandemic society. I recognize that this burden falls unequally on our classroom teachers.

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We have been living day-to-day in the unknown and it is exhausting. We are on the frontline of guiding our youth back to healthy mindsets and appropriate behaviors. Our role as educators has become doubly difficult in this anxious time of social and political unrest.

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It may seem at times that the comfort and familiarity of the classroom has evaded us, but we are persevering and setting an example for our students on how to thrive during this very important return. Educators have always had an important role in helping to shape our world by producing contributing members of society. That charge has never been more important than now.

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As we head into the final weeks of first semester and the upcoming Holiday season, my hope is that you will get to enjoy some well-deserved time off to recuperate from the ever-increasing demands that our society has placed upon educators. I know that we all look forward to the day when we will be able to see the faces of our students and deliver instruction without the barrier of a face covering. I hope that day will be in our near future.

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I said it early on during the pandemic and I am compelled to say it again: I have never been more proud to be an educator working alongside some of the most dedicated individuals our society has ever known. Thanks for your never-ending commitment to our students, to our profession and to our society.

 

KURT BURGER
ACT PRESIDENT