June 20 Update

 Dear McCall Families,

 

I hope this message finds you well.  I entered this school year with cautious optimism about returning to normalcy, but this year has been more challenging for me in a lot of ways than previous years.  The negative impact of the pandemic on the students’ academic progress and all our physical and mental health cannot be understated.   Although our conversations about the pandemic have often been about what it has taken from us, I think it is also necessary for us to think about what it has given us.  I am reminded of the commencement address Chief Justice Roberts delivered to the Cardigan Mountain School graduates in 2017.  During that speech he talked about the relationships between fairness and justice, pain and compassion, loneliness and friendship, and bad luck and chance. I think it is fitting to extrapolate what he said during that speech and apply it to our circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The impact of the pandemic has caused us pain.  However, it is in pain that we gain a better understanding of what it means to receive and give compassion.

 

The pandemic treated us unfairly - some more so than others.  However, it is when we receive unfair treatment that we understand the value of justice.

 

The isolation during the pandemic forced us to experience loneliness.  However, it is when we are lonely, we learn the value of friendship.

 

All of us experienced bad luck during the pandemic.  However, having experienced bad luck means we better understand our successes may not be completely deserved, while other people's failures and suffering may also not be completely deserved.  

 

This past school year has been a hard year for many of our students, families, and staff members.  We cannot change what the pandemic has done to us, but we all can take this experience, learn from it, and help ourselves and each other grow.

 

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Mr. Tom Awiszus, Technology and Engineering Teacher, Ms. Pat DeVries, Digital Literacy Teacher and Instructional Technology Specialist, and Ms. Anna Kerkorian, Digital Literacy Teacher, for concluding their careers.  All three colleagues decided to retire at the end of the current school year, and I wish all of them well as they head off on their new adventures.  

 

Thank you, and I hope everyone’s summer is one that includes a lot of fun, rest, and reflection.

I am looking forward to a great 22-23 school year with all of you!

 

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

June 5 Update

Dear McCall Parents and Caregivers,

 

This weekend was a celebratory one for my family.  My daughter and first child joined many seniors across the country to from high school.  We are proud of her and all her classmates who overcame so many obstacles during the last three years to get to this point.  The graduation ceremony was particularly special for my wife.  She was a special education teacher in the junior high that my daughter attended and taught some of the beaming young adults who walked across the stage Friday evening.  It was almost like having my personal color commentator during the presentation of the diplomas as my wife whispered in my year comments like the following:

 

“That kid couldn’t even write a paragraph when I had him and now look at him heading off to UMass-Amherst.”

 

“She was so good at asking for help when she could not get her work done so she could help mom take care of her younger sisters – she so deserves the full scholarship to Gettysburg College”

 

“That kid is so awesome with the way he handled his dad’s death in 7^th grade”

 

Although we did not have to manage the craziness of hybrid, remote, and the full return like last year, this year in many ways was much more challenging than 20-21.  I know many of you came into this school year with the hope of having a normal year.   I also know many of your dreams were dashed when this past winter showed us just how unrelenting this pandemic can be.  Listening to my wife talk about some of these graduating seniors who struggled during their middle school years reminded me that the trajectory of a person’s development is never linear.  It is made up of ebbs and flows and progressions and regressions.  Those of us who had a difficult year should remember we all can bounce back if we are wise enough and courageous enough to self-reflect and make the necessary changes so we can do better.  Just as Maya Angelou taught us when she wrote, “when you know better, do better”.

 

It is my hope that everyone - including students and McCall staff members - will take some time to reflect upon our school year during the summer.  Whether your experience was positive or negative, you will find ways to learn from it and use that learning to make 22-23 a better year.

 

I wish you a great week!

 

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School