By Bill Husfelt, Superintendent, Bay District Schools
I usually try to keep my column positive and uplifting (there’s already so much bad news in the world) but this month I need to ask for your help and I need to share some of the reality facing our students, our employees and our families.
A teacher recently emailed us asking for some additional support for her students. Her third-grade students (average age is 9 years old) are dealing with:
• Parents who are separating
• Parents who are divorcing
• Parents who have been caught having affairs
• Estranged parents suddenly showing up again
• Homelessness
• Students who have no idea where they will be sleeping each night because they are shuffled from home to home for a variety of reasons
• Increased chores and babysitting responsibilities because parents are working more hours
• Students removed from their homes and placed in foster care
• Custody changes that result in a child suddenly changing homes
• New babies at home
• Parents who have been arrested
• Loss of a loved one due to Covid-19
In her email, this veteran, respected teacher wrote: “I feel unequipped to talk to the kids about these things and it is so widespread in my class. My heart breaks for the things my kiddos are dealing with.” She asked for, and is receiving, help but I know she’s not alone.
So what can you do? I’ve taken the liberty to literally make a list of EXACTLY what I think our community could do to help. I fervently pray that even half of you who read this monthly column will step up to do some of these things because we can only tackle a problem this big when we all work together.
Mentor: Many of our children need additional trusted adults in their lives and you can be one of those by becoming a mentor. Call Stacey Legg at (850) 767-4100 if you’d like to know more about joining Elevate Bay (our mentoring initiative). You can also get more information about that at www.bay.k12.fl.us/elevate-bay.
Support: Please think about the families in your own personal network. Is there a single mom who needs a helping hand once a week? Can you babysit for a single dad while he gets some chores done at home? Do you know a young family who could use some assistance in terms of time, groceries, a helping hand? Can you help with the outreach efforts already going on through your church or a non-profit organization?
Volunteer: Volunteer for your child’s school or your neighborhood school, volunteer to help a teacher after school, volunteer to help the custodian … we need help at EVERY level! You can find a list of our schools, and contact information, at https://www.bay.k12.fl.us/our-schools-elementary, https://www.bay.k12.fl.us/our-schools-middle and https://www.bay.k12.fl.us/our-schools-high.
Donate: Money doesn’t solve all problems BUT it can help some of them. You can donate your child’s gently-used clothing to his/her school if they are currently accepting items. You can contribute to the school to help pay field trip costs for a student who can’t afford to go. You can donate books or other items a teacher might like. You can donate non-perishable food items for a school’s pantry and you can always donate money to the Bay Education Foundation which will then use it to support a plethora of programs in our schools. You can find out more about Bay Education Foundation at https://www.bayeducationfoundation.org.
The school will NEVER be able to solve all of the problems even though we’re doing more than ever before. However, I firmly believe that we can make a serious dent in most of the issues faced by our children if we work together. Whether you have children of your own or not, I am sure you can agree that OUR children are in crisis and OUR children need our help more than they ever have before.
Please choose to get involved in some form or fashion because our children need us! If even half of you will take some action beginning this month I know our children will feel it, notice it and benefit from it.
Thank you. Stay safe and God Bless!
