After sharing our Superintendent’s holiday message attachment, and the link to find the latest district pandemic response, this was my holiday message from the principal that I sent out yesterday:

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Beyond our control:

It’s was a bit hard today to hear that new restrictions are being implemented or re-implemented to deal with the Omicron variant, and that we still seem to be in pandemic rather then endemic times. In the Fall of 2020 I ruled out any recovery for 2021 and started saying, “Things will start to get better in January 2022.” Even in July of this year, as we were dealing with the Delta Variant, I wrote in my daily blog that I was still optimistic. I thought my timeline left room for error, but I was wrong. Still, while things may not be better in January, I hold a lot of optimism about what 2022 holds in store for us. I hope you do too. 

Within our control:

We all need to do our part. The holiday season is a time when families get together, and students connect with friends. We all need to do this with caution and follow the requested guidelines. When we think about the good of the greater community, we all benefit. “Be safe, be smart,” is my new mantra I share with my daughters, and I share it with you now too. Let’s all do our part.

Story time:

I wear two hats as Principal, one for Inquiry Hub and one for Coquitlam Open Learning (COL). My responsibilities for COL dominated my attention for the past couple weeks. While I was running around trying to do too many things at once, one of my teachers reminded me to ‘be present’ when I was trying to do two other things while also carrying on a conversation with the teacher. This was a good reminder for me.

I have a mentor who I was talking to, many years ago, about trying to juggle everything I was dealing with. The metaphor I used was that I keep adding things to the back of my truck, and things were starting to fall off. My mentor said, “Stuff, not people.”

“Pardon?” I asked.

He responded, “Stuff, not people. When things get really busy, and you can’t do everything, things will ‘fall off the back of your truck’. When that happens, make sure that it’s stuff, and not people.”

My teacher reminded me of this. I was trying to do many things, and in my effort, I was not attentive to the person, while I was being attentive to the ‘stuff’ I was dealing with.

At this time when we don’t have a lot of control over imposed restrictions, and doing what’s best for our community, we do have control over our own attention. Students and parents alike, when you are having a conversation, put your devices away. Have technology free meals. Play a board game instead of watching TV. Be present with each other… that’s the best gift you can give each other.

Happy holidays to you all… Be safe, be smart,

Dave