Coronavirus pandemic teaches us lessons

Kentucky School Advocate
May 2020

By Ronnie Holmes
KSBA President

Look for brighter weather or watch for the sun again; if you want the rainbow, then you must have the rain. – lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose (from Norah Jones’ recording)

To many of us, COVID-19, the coronavirus pandemic, often feels like a dreary drizzle with intermittent downpours and no rainbow in sight. No doubt, it’s an intimidating situation. 

So, what has it taught us about education and school board service? As board members, we must communicate, collaborate and use our creativity and critical thinking skills to find solutions to problems we would have never imagined.

Speak, so that I may see you. ? Socrates 

Communication helps us meet our needs and achieve our desires. It can improve relationships, connecting us to others and to the bigger picture. It can reduce the uncertainty of new situations, resolve conflict and help us achieve our goals.

I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. – Plutarch

Collaboration brings people of various backgrounds, skills and perspectives together to respond to problems and resolve them in mutually acceptable ways.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. – Aristotle

Critical thinking requires analyzing the complexity of a problem in order to solve it. We need to gather and examine data, consider various perspectives, search for patterns and make judgments based on evidence, logic and reasoning. We must analyze, interpret, compare, reason and evaluate. 

Necessity is the mother of invention. – Plato 

Creativity includes innovating, sometimes by taking risks. This is especially important where differences in demographics, experience and perception can help people think in new ways. We have the best chance for success when we examine and evaluate different ideas and come to a solution that is better than the sum of its parts. 

So, what have we learned as non-traditional instruction, mostly via the internet, has replaced in-person classes and virtual school board meetings have replaced sitting in a board room?  

For one thing, information technology and the internet have enabled an amazing level of connectivity.

In Graves County, our fiscal court, WK&T Technology, and our board collaborated to create free “hot spots” in school parking lots for those without internet. Other districts likely made similar accommodations. 

We also learned that people will rise to the occasion they are confronted with. Our district, like many throughout Kentucky, has found ways to continue delivering meals to families in need.

We’ve also learned that our schools are more than places of learning – they are deeply connected communities – something we take for granted, until we are unable to come together with one another.

Driving down the road this week, an old Carpenters’ song came on the radio that speaks of renewal and hope – how much the colorful rainbow brightens what was a dark, gray sky. I found hope in its lyrics, written by Paul Williams: “Sharing horizons that are new to us, watching the signs along the way” and “so much of life ahead, we’ll find a place where there’s room to grow” … and ‘We’ve Only Just Begun.’ 

What a wonderful rainbow emerging from a devastating downpour!