I am thinking of you all in these days. My heart feels so heavy, and I’m sure you can all relate. In the midst of outrage, confusion, and everything that goes along with it, I have found myself wondering, what can I do here? And more importantly, how can I educate myself to be better, to do better?

As educators we all experience moments of significant impact that resonate with us deeply; moments that we will never forget. Each year in Preschool we begin the year with an All About Me themed unit. I am always humbled by the way in which my 4 year old students engage in conversations about the shades of their skin color, their differences, and their similarities. Speaking to the fact that racism is not innate, it is learned at some point in childhood.

During the All About Me unit, students create self portraits. One year one of my precious students, for whom I will call Sophia, drew herself with long blonde hair and pale skin. Sophia does not have blonde hair and does not have pale skin, in fact the complete opposite. When I asked her to describe her portrait to me, my heart broke. In that moment I chose to acknowledge the effort and time she placed into her portrait, for who am I to point out the fact that her portrait looked nothing like her? At four years old she realized this ideal of beauty, separate from herself, internalized it to a certain extent and identified with it. From there I become more mindful of the shows, movies, and youtube channels that I know my students engage with- if you take a look, the white culture is predominantly represented. I made a mental note to fill our classroom library, centers, and shared learning content with a representation of the diverse cultures and colors in our classroom.

The truth is that each day we have the future in our classrooms (virtual and not). We have the ability to open and continue conversations about race, acceptance, and acknowledgement in our classrooms each day. Most importantly, we have the ability to model  it in our actions. I believe that in these times we must not forget the power in that and the responsibility that comes along with it; in the way we approach conversations and discussions, in the books we choose to share (SO IMPORTANT), with a careful eye of how characters are represented, i.e the danger of a single story, and teaching our students, from young, how to “question” or in later grades “analyze”- rooted in the fact that it is always okay to ask why?

During this time I feel so proud to work in a field that has a direct influence on the future of our country, my state, and my city. I feel so thankful to work amongst you all. I hope we can all find solace in knowing that God has a plan, and doesn’t give his people more than they can handle. Praying for each of you, thankful for each of you! May we never take our vocation lightly.

Love and Light!

Xx, Sab