All Hands on Deck

                                           

 

 

“All hands on deck” is an expression we often use to call people to action in an emergency. When people are in a crisis, they need a supportive community to meet a variety of needs. In my next novel, we have some situations in which students need the support of parents,  students and school staff. Often schools do not offer help to those who need it, but when they do, it makes a great impact. When I think back over my thirty-one years of teaching, I realize the many opportunities I had to impact lives. 

 

It’s difficult to estimate how many students I’ve taught for several reasons. Some students were in my classes several times during their four years, and others only once. Some years I taught five classes a day, and sometimes only three or four. A few courses were year long classes, but most were one semester. Classes ranged in number from 15 to 35. So, I would estimate there were between 4 and 5,000 students that I taught!? Anyway, that’s a lot of opportunities to make an impact.

 

Over the last six months, I’ve had three students (who are now adults, of course) to say I was their favorite teacher. That was very encouraging, until I realized how many students came through my classes. I always said that “Students are just people and they want to be treated the same way I want to be treated.” I hope that my attitude came through, but I’m sure it didn’t always do so. 

 

I was fortunate to have good principals during my teaching career. One of the best of them always reminded us that we were all there to help the students be the best they could be. She gave teachers a lot of opportunity to make decisions, always including them in interviewing prospective teachers in their departments and planning who would teach what the next semester. However, she was always quick to remind us that we were there to help the students. We were on the “front lines” of the process. If we were discussing our teaching assignments and someone said that they didn’t want to teach something or wanted an assignment, she would often stop us and say, “Wait a minute, what is best for the students?”

 

The school community is made up of students, parents, teachers, coaches, counselors, and administrators. Each one is of great importance in creating a community that is supportive in helping young people develop into the kind of adults they have the potential to be. When one succeeds or fails to be that support, it impacts the whole community.