I’m a gardening novice; but as the quarantine made us look for things we could do while at home, I started spending more time in our yard. I noticed over the summer that there is a low point in our lawn, where there is plenty of moisture. A miniature jungle pops up each week in this spot until it gets leveled off by the lawnmower. In Colorado, we know that water is precious, and it can make all the difference in any landscape. What gets the water is what grows.
We are faced with a global pandemic that is forcing us to re-imagine our lives and re-learn how to do much of what we took for granted. It has stripped away so much of what kept us busy, kept us connected, kept us happy. And now we are trying to re-build. One silver lining as we work to re-build is that we can make choices about what we really want back in our lives, what we really value, and want to have grow.
The community we have at Colorado Academy is one of those things for our family. We are so grateful for the dedicated, generous people who make up this community. All summer, the faculty and staff at CA worked to transform our school into one that can proceed with its mission, regardless of what the pandemic throws at us.
Similarly inspiring, though hidden from view, is the work of CA Cares, led by parents Jami Acker and Angie Mielke and their team of donors, who have been providing assistance through the summer to CA families experiencing the economic impact of the pandemic. And even before school started, our Host Families represented our community by reaching out to our new families, and parent volunteers organized by Candice Gottlieb and Elisabeth Noyes delivered Welcome Bags to our new students. Also this fall, the first-ever virtual Get INvolved Parent Volunteer Fair was launched under the leadership of Jenny Wolkon. To work with these amazing people and others serving behind the scenes makes me excited for the school year and grateful to be a part of this community.
As we try to settle into this new school year, we can all choose to water what we want to have grow in our lives and in the lives of our children. I hope that you will choose to join us, as our Parent Association helps to water our community.