Recap: 2021–22 School Year
Relieved. I would say that is the one word I keep thinking of as the 2021–22 school year comes to an end. Relieved that I didn’t get COVID, relieved that I survived, relieved that I was able to truly connect again with students, and just relieved, in general. This school year has put many teachers through the wringer, and I know for a fact that all of us are breathing sighs of relief that we are coming to the end of the school year.
It was a rocky start, to say the least. Within the first couple of weeks of school, there was a massive brawl at lunch time that was heightened by racial slurs and remarks. It was a truly sad and disappointing start to the school year. We, as the staff, tried to confront the issues head on in our classes. We had open discussions, long talks about race, racism, and all forms of discrimination, and some of the staff put on a healing event for the students after school. We thought that things were getting better, but another racial incident took place this week. The school year was bookended by racial issues, and it’s been extremely disappointing.
Another thing was behavior issues. I feel blessed that the students I had this year were really well-behaved. I don’t mean to brag, but for the most part, my students like me and act respectfully because of this. The behavior issues came from outside of my room. All year long, there were students that were pulling the fire alarms at least 1–2 times per week. It became a joke whenever an alarm would go off, and everyone would stall while walking out of our classrooms because we knew that the all-clear bell would be ringing before we even got down the stairs. It has only been in these last couple of weeks before the school year is over that the bells have stopped.
My floor has also been hit with kids playing ding-dong-ditch. They will aggressively knock on our doors and windows, and then run down the hall. I was able to catch one student and promptly sent him to the office. Again, this is an issue that has only recently stopped, and it’s because a bunch of us kept bugging the office every time an occurrence like this would happen. They started prioritizing having campus security near my building, and caught more students doing this. I think word started to get around that people were getting busted, so it’s been more peaceful lately. Students also spent time vandalizing the campus, pulling bathroom stall doors off their hinges, breaking urinals off the walls, vaping in the bathrooms, etc. It’s been an unreal amount of behavior stuff this school year.
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To top it off, I’ve had many students this year that were assessed for suicide attempts or suicide risks. It’s always scary and sad when this happens, and some of these kids have just withdrawn further despite any attempts I’ve made to reach out. It can be extremely disheartening and depressing. I was talking to one of the counselors this year and they revealed that there has been a major uptick in students with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. For some of these kids, the year they spent at home was extremely damaging to their mental health and social skills. I can’t even count how many times I’ve needed to step outside of the room with a kid that was having an emotional breakdown, or was in the middle of a panic or anxiety attack. I try to do my best to calm them down, and to let them know that I’m there for them. It’s very scary when this happens, and my heart just breaks for them every time.
But, it wasn’t all bad. Even though it’s been one of my hardest years as a teacher, it was also really refreshing getting back in the classroom. Last year, I felt like I didn’t even know my students at the end of the year, which was a really hard pill to swallow. It made me feel like I didn’t try hard enough or do enough to get to know them, but I try not to dwell on that too much. Being back in-person allowed me to get to know my new batch of students this year, and I loved it, even the heartbreaking moments. They can be truly silly, sweet, funny, awkward, and weird! I just feel blessed to have made connections this year with a large portion of them, and I hope that one day they will think back to their time in my class, and smile. It can sometimes bring tears to my eyes thinking about all these kids growing up and moving on.
There was this cheesy sitcom in the 80s called The Facts of Life with an even cheesier theme song. The song lyrics go like this:
You take the good
You take the bad
You take them both and there you have the facts of life
The facts of life
And that’s what this school year was all about. I always cringe when someone says that life is full of hills and valleys, but it’s true. Sometimes you’re in the valley, sometimes you’re climbing, and sometimes you’re at the top. There were A LOT of hills and valleys this school year, a lot of good and bad. I’m hoping that the next school year will be less eventful. I’ve passed the baton of being the yearbook advisor onto another teacher, which means that for the first time in six years, I’ll have a real spring break because I won’t be editing for hours on end during that time! I have already signed up for a couple of leadership committees which will allow me to step into more leadership roles, but will also give me a little time away from the classroom. I think this was a bit of a problem this year; it’s tough to be in the classroom every single day, and breaks away from the students is needed every now and again.
So, as I count down the days until the last day of the school year, I again think of the word “relieved”. As for summer plans, the only major thing I have on my schedule is meeting up with one of my BFF’s in Chicago sometime in July. Other than that, I’m just chilling, writing, and hopefully recharging for the next school year.
