Back to School
by Jessica Jesse
2021-2022
What does school look like nowadays? Is it back to "normal" or is it a version of what we knew? Regardless, the one thing we have learned through the unusual times we have lived in 2020 is that children need interaction with other children. They must learn to coexist with their peers while studying, playing, winning, losing, sharing, and being part of something bigger than themselves.
Education as we know it, is changing, whether it is the format with virtual and digital, to new math, and "politically correct" history. It is no longer the school we remember. There are new challenges for these new generations. Fitting in is no longer a neighborhood issue, although it does start there, it is not "fitting-in" globally. It is absorbing vast amounts of stimuli with not much time to reflect.
Imagination is also something of a conundrum. Perhaps we will begin seeing a return to basic creativity. Making your own glue, using whatever is around to create art, and learning the importance of process. Even being bored, which then prompts the: "I don't want to be bored and I am going to create," and wonderful, unexpected things arise from that boredom.
The most important thing about going back to school is to learn...learn to make friends.
