Day 3: Something's Just Suck!

My 365 Blog Challenge:  Day 3/365

Let me start by saying this post is therapeutic for me (at least that is my hope). It is my attempt at organizing my thoughts and working through the many emotions I find myself with tonight.  I apologize if it is random or confusing.

Tonight as I was checking Facebook, I noticed a few of my friends had changed their profile picture to a cancer ribbon. After looking at a few status updates, I relalized it had to do with a parent from my school. I asked one of my coworkers what was going on and she told me that the mom of one of our students has cancer and the outcome has taken a turn for the worse. This particular student is the sweetest kid ever and a joy to have in class. I realize that this does not matter, no child (even if they drive me crazy in class) deserves to suffer through something like this when they are in elementary school.  Even as I write this, I can hear my students yelling at me for swearing, somethings just suck. 

Looking at pictures of this student on Facebook brought up many emotions and I will admit it made me cry. I am very close with my family and I can't imagine life without one of them. I can't imagine what I would so in a similar situation and I am an adult. 

As a teacher I spend hours preparing for lessons and organizing materials, but moments like this make me question the purpose of these endeavors. This student is going thru a worst case scenario at a young age. Does it really matter what we are doing in music class or in school in general? Now I realize, school is important and the ability to read/write are necessary life skills and I don't mean to debate that now, but there is so much more to life than school.  I have many students who have struggles at home and I am concerned about them learning rhythm patterns and singing songs. It all seems so trivial. 

Knowing what I now know about this student, all I want to do tomorrow is give him a big hug and tell him everything is going to be all right, but I know that I cannot promise him that. I will have to settle for praying for him and his family as they endure this challenging time.  

School should be a support system for students (and staff for that matter).  This situation reaffirms my belief that educators should focus on relationships. We never know how many people show a particular student that they are cared for and honestly, students cannot have too many supporters.  We need to love our students. Once basic skills are mastered, students can learn anything they set their mind to. Schools give us many years to model and teach our students caring and empathy. I will gladly take those skills over musical mastery. 

By the way, I will still give him that big hug.  Even though I can't make it all better, I can make sure he knows he is surrounded by people who care about him.