Dear Friends—
What craziness we have experienced in the last three months! First, COVID-19 made a rather abrupt appearance, sending us online for school and physically distant from each other. It continues to linger and just as we are wearying of it, another crisis has arisen—or better put, has re-arisen. The recent high-profile, unwarranted deaths of three African American adults brings the reality of racial injustice in our country to the forefront.
Our Canterbury core values clearly state that we “instill and expect integrity, honesty, moral courage, personal accountability, respect, and compassion for others” and live in community by “respecting the diversity of others.” We do our very best to live these moral values every single day. We do not tolerate racism in any form on our campuses.
As much as we want to shield our students from the atrocities of life, we cannot. With our students being online more than ever, they are exposed. Video clips and news headlines pop up on every social media site there is. Students hear their friends talking and overhear their parents. Even if they don’t know exactly what is going on, they sense the tension in the air.
If school were in session, we would be able to support you as parents in having age- and content-appropriate conversations with our students given the current climate of our larger community. Since we are not in session, we wanted to share with you some resources to help you have these conversations. Please see the links to these under my signature.
Being #CanterburyStrong means we come together and support each other in good times and in bad, while we are in school and while we are on break. Today, this means that we are here to help you sort through the lingering COVID-19 issues, be they financial, emotional, or something altogether different. And, it means that we are here to empower you to teach your children what it means to seek justice and peace for all—in simpler terms, “loving neighbor as self.”
These times are hard for so many different reasons and in so many different ways. Let’s not tackle them in isolation. Canterbury is here to support you and your children. Please reach out.
I will close with a blessing I love which seems quite appropriate for the time.
Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.
All things break. And all things can be mended.
Not with time, as they say, but with intention.
So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, and unconditionally.
The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you. (L. R. Knost)
In grace,
Sonia
Six Tips to Survive a Covid-19 Summer with Your Kids
Supporting Kids through the Coronavirus Crisis from the Child Mind Institute
Helping Children Cope with Changes Resulting from COVID-19
George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children? (A USA Today article containing an interview with two psychologists.)
Talking about Race – The National Museum of African American History and Culture
Talking with kids about racism from EduBirdie Writing Platform
A Kids Book about Racism by Jelani Memory (A book for children, adults will benefit too.)