To the editor:
I want to start the new year with a “thank you.”
Thank you to all of the parents and community members who have expressed gratitude and shown support to our educators in Manitou Springs School District 14.
Although our students have been consistently learning in-person this school year, there are great obstacles to overcome when it comes to the pandemic’s impact (e.g., learning loss, strain on educators and parents, impacts on mental health) and the historic underfunding of schools in Colorado.
Reflecting on my own childhood, as a child of the 1980s, I had the opportunity to go to school during a time when there was no social media and no pandemic. We practiced weather-related drills and not active shooter drills.
Our educators are remarkable in so many ways. I hope that our school district will continue to lift our educators and support them along this journey. Our children deserve nothing less.
I look to 2022 as an opportunity to choose to come together, celebrate each other and acknowledge the important and meaningful work we can do as a community to support our children and staff who have experienced so much over the past 22 months.
Let’s focus on treating each other well. Let’s focus on telling and re-telling stories of success, resilience, creativity and passion.
As we have all experienced, circumstances can change in a moment. When we lift each other we, as individuals and as a community, are stronger.
Happy 2022 and Go Mustangs!
Elizabeth A. Domangue, Ph.D is the superintendent of Manitou Springs School District.