President's Perspective: Best way to educate students is to engage families

Posted Date: 09/28/2021

By Lori Blake

KASB President

It’s no secret that the world is divided, and the irony is that we are all just seeking our place to belong. If our family doesn’t provide this safety from day one, we begin seeking that space whether it’s a healthy option or not and often seek likeminded people to feel acceptance. The need to belong accelerates choices which can be either healthful or destructive. The resulting consequences either strengthen us or weaken us. 

Families are the central unit of society and the way our families respond to life’s experiences form the map of their lives. Each one of those experiences create pathways in our brains which drive the human response. The more frequently that experience happens, the faster the neurons decide what to anticipate and how to act. Our bodies are highways delivering messages for daily living. Now I’m not a neuroscientist or a doctor; I am just a passionate leader who believes strongly in giving kids the best start to life possible and I believe the best chance for success comes when the family is safe, healthy, and strong. Which is also why I believe the best way for educators to find success with the students is to invite families to engage in their children’s education.   

Because public educators are passengers in the vehicle to create safe spaces for kids, we must embrace each other’s differences to find understanding and compassion. The understanding comes from schools opening their doors to families to be in community together. This takes consistent communication, inclusion, and extraordinary commitment to a vision that puts the child’s success in the center of every decision. It also requires professionals who value the parents’ perspectives.  Developing relationships with the whole family lead to positive outcomes for kids. 

Humans are made to be connected to one another through relationships and schools have more opportunity than any other system for children. The safety comes from kids finding belonging. When safe spaces are formed, kids experience adults who foster creativity, critical thinking skills and most importantly human connection. In her book The Creation of Health, Caroline Myss says “Your biography becomes your biology. This biography includes the totality of your choices, the things you feed your body – your thoughts, your actions, your food – the thing you feed your life.” Our public educators are literally mapping our future through the kind of connections we make. 

As we reach our frustration levels with COVID, our attention has been focused on a literal pandemic instead of the road block this barrier created. Now, more than ever, we need to remember the connections we have in our community. COVID is merely a detour we’ve all had to take. Let’s safely invite our patrons back into our buildings to re-establish the bonds that have been severed through closed mindedness, isolated social media posts and physical separation. Let’s practice kindness and teach our kids what it looks like to live in harmony instead of dissonance. Our road trip will be much more enjoyable when the playlist includes every genre and the music will express our experiences when given the chance.