Our Intervention Specialist and I had to do some home visits recently to check in on students we were pretty sure enrolled in our school this year but we haven’t heard from them, for one reason or another. We had several students to check on. Our conversation became speculative about some of the students we knew from the last year regarding why they haven’t been at school – whether it was moved, vacation, parents planning to start after Labor Day and other possibilities.
While we have have no allusions about how some of our families are struggling and dealing with on a daily basis, it was still heart-breaking to come across this posting on one of the doors of a family we had to make several visits for last year.
I don’t write this post to this post to say we should all make a point to visit families of students we know are struggling or students who give us a tough time at school to get to know the families [even though we should]. I’m definitely not writing this for us to feel sorry for students and families. There is a difference in feeling sorry for someone and and being empathetic and determined.
I write this to say as much as we pour into being instructional designers and innovators, we must dedicate time to knowing and caring for and loving the lives we spend most of our days with.
#prayforkids
Draw strength from one another to be a difference in our kids lives.
Derek L. McCoy 
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