Commence To Commence

 From small things, big things one day come. At least that's what I learned from Bruce Springsteen. That whole acorn becoming a mighty oak analogy and so forth. 

Commencement is commencing at Horace Mann once again. This will be the twenty-seventh class of fifth graders I have shepherded through six years of elementary education in these hallowed halls. I say "hallowed" mostly because in a year or so, many of these youngsters will find their way back here for a visit, and they will look around. They will inevitably land on the same conclusion: "Everything looks so small."

That, I believe is the dictionary definition of "hallowed." 

This is the crew that felt the brunt of school closures, both COVID and district-imposed. Two teacher strikes and a pandemic year of distance learning, they persevered. There is a lot of discussion to be had about just exactly how they all fared in terms of the state requirements and expectations for promotion, but there is little doubt among those who helped them on their way that they kept at it. It was not always easy, but they kept at it. 

At the end of the day, that's what really matters. The families who send their kids to our school are hoping for the best, and the circumstances that got them to our front gate vary as much as the clothes on their backs. We send them on to middle school knowing that suddenly those clothes are sadly going to affect them in ways they had not fully realized. 

And yet, they will persevere. Because not everyone at Horace Mann will be the best, but they will all try to do their best. That's something that our principal and our staff has been working tirelessly to impress on them. There is a term that has recently come into vogue in education, it's called "rising." A fifth grader who is about to head into middle school is called a "rising sixth grader." It also helps us to remember that the journey for these kids is only beginning. Maybe it ends in a corner office with a view. Maybe it ends in an apartment of their very own. Maybe it ends with the understanding that there is no end. 

Back here at Horace Mann our journey continues. Those chairs are empty, for a while. There's more kids waiting outside to fill them. 

Rising.