Public Schools and Icebergs

Take a walk through Clinton City Schools and this is what you will see. Teachers smiling, greeting students at the door. Students smiling and laughing in the classrooms. Laughter fills the cafeteria. Giggles and screams are heard on the playground. Mid-year benchmark data shows that students are making incredible gains. From the outside, it seems to be flowing flawlessly with little effort.

Icebergs. They are beautiful structures - a large piece of ice, floating effortlessly and beautifully in the ocean water. People pay large amounts of money to hop on a cruise ship to absorb their beauty on Alaskan cruises. Viewers can only see one-fourth of the iceberg. Three-fourths of the structure remains hidden under the dark ocean water, not visible to the observer's eye. However, this foundation is a key component to the beauty of the visible piece of ice - providing the mechanism for it to float effortlessly.

Public schools across the state of TN began the work in early May of intensely planning for the reopening of schools in the midst of a global pandemic. In Clinton City Schools, staff members met spread out in the cafeterias with chart paper all over the walls trying to think through every scenario and mitigation effort possible in order to be adequately prepared. Every district across the state had to respond according to its own unique community situation.

As Simon Sinek and Patrick Lencioni state, the success of any organization depends on all members sharing the same set of core values and principles. Effective organizations have trust, welcome conflict, hold each other accountable, set high expectations, strive for continuous improvement, and have open lines of communication. Ideas and situations are heavily debated behind closed doors. However, when the doors open, the organization speaks from one voice and moves seamlessly in the same direction. The work behind the scenes is rarely noticed by the public eye.

Here is what has really been happening this first semester in Clinton City Schools:

The core beliefs that drove our decision making:

• Public education is an essential component of our society. The work that we do is the foundational piece to our country's success. Public education is the "Great Equalizer." 
• Nothing replaces face-to-face instruction. However, we realize that some family situations don't allow for that option at this time.
• As a staff, we will "love our students first." School closures took a hard hit on many of our students. While we will always place a focus on academics, we will take care of the social, emotional, and health needs of our students first. 
• Worthwhile work is never easy.

Through the visible smiles and laughter of our staff members, here is the reality of what they have pulled off since August:

• They have arrived at work early to greet students standing at their door instead of the gym. Their work has begun before they ever take off their coat or put down their purse. Yet, they enter with a smile on their face, happily greeting students.
• They immediately begin serving breakfast in the classroom, documenting who eats and cleaning up any accidental spills.
• They have created specific seating arrangements, line ordering, and spacing to limit the amount of co-mingling, spread of the virus, and quarantines that occur if there is a positive case.
• They have kept up with the CDC/TN Department of Health guidelines which is now on Version 12.
• They have contact traced in the evenings and on weekends during their personal family time.
• If quarantined, many have taught virtually from their home to keep quality instruction going for their students.
• If they were not able to teach from home, many partner teachers stepped up to the plate and would teach their own class in person and teach the other class virtually - simultaneously.
• When students were sent home on quarantine/isolation, teachers would Google Meet with the students daily to ensure quality instruction was continuing. Many teachers would teach both virtually and brick and mortar, seamlessly meeting the needs of students in both learning modalities.
• When classrooms were closed, teachers still reported to school and lead virtual instruction for the class each day.
• Teachers have learned an entire new set of technology skills in a very short amount of time in order to educate their students - no matter the circumstance. 
• Many teachers have voluntarily given up their duty-free lunch (for additional pay) to eat with kids so social distancing and limited co-mingling could maintained.
• Teachers been asked to remain isolated in their rooms and limit the amount of adult interaction in an effort to keep the staff healthy, knowing that the virus spreads easily among adults. Staff meetings and professional development have all been held virtually. So in the most stressful of times when human to human interaction is needed most, teachers have sacrificed this to stay healthy.
• Teachers have kept students in their room in the afternoon during dismissal in order to limit co-mingling.
• Teachers have worked closely with school counselors and support staff as they have navigated issues with student depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, etc.
• Teaching assistants have entered the building each morning, not knowing where they would be placed to fill in staffing deficiencies. 
• School nurses have been placed on the frontline of COVID-19 handling all student health issues and communicating Health Department guidelines to families. 

This is just the beginning of what our staff members have done. All of the above doesn't include the usual parts of the job such as lesson planning for multiple subjects, differentiated instruction, classroom management, student discipline, observations, analyzing student data, parent communication, parent conferences, student attendance, grading papers, preparing mid-terms/report cards, state mandated trainings, and the list goes on and on....

The word hero is way overused these days. We all know that CCS staff members are heroes. I would say that they are also miracle workers. They could have easily looked at the obstacles standing in the way of a successful school year. They could have taken the easy way out. They could have have thrown in the towel and said, "This is impossible." But educators never back down from doing what is right for kids. They have kept their eyes set on the outcome, keeping their "why" as a focus. Their collective core values led the work. 

Keeping public schools open during a global pandemic is much like an iceberg.

Three-fourths of  what our CCS staff has done has gone unnoticed by the casual observer's eye. What is seen by the students, parents, and community members is the beautifully structured organization called public education. It seems to run effortlessly and seamlessly. Meanwhile, three-fourths of the work behind the scenes is the magic that makes it happen.

Teachers never actively seek kudos or public appreciation. Much of the reward is intrinsic - seeing the impact that their work has on students. However, I feel the iceberg story needs to be told. The public needs to know what the Clinton City Schools staff, and public educators across the state of TN, have done this semester for our students. It is magical. It is exhausting. Our staff is tired and fatigued. The work has been immeasurably hard. Yet, you won't hear complaints from them. It is a higher calling. It is a mission field. A simple, "I love you" and hug from a student is the best gift that can be given.

If you haven't taken the time, please make sure during this holiday season to thank school staff members. There is much more happening than the tip of the iceberg that is seen by the public. Staff members will go home for two weeks to rest and refill their personal buckets. They will return in January ready to tackle the same good work. We aren't out of the woods yet, but you can be guaranteed that our staff will return ready to tackle whatever comes our way, placing the needs of our kids first. They will return and the first words out of the their mouths will be, "What can I do to help?" And our CCS iceberg will continue to be a remarkable place.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the all the dedicated educators out there! Thank you for being miracle workers!!!

Kelly D. Johnson

Director, Clinton City Schools