It is nearly the end of the school year. Whew – what a ride!
We know that when you signed up for ATYP you thought you
were signing up for challenging courses, extra homework, and maybe the chance
to make new friends. You weren’t signing up for, well, whatever this turned out
to be.
There are all sorts of lessons in life that you simply did
not know you were going to have to learn. Parents (or at least, me as parent)
spend a lot of time talking to their kids about being organized, keeping up
with work so you are in control of your schedule, thinking about what might
happen so you can be prepared. And then things like COVID-19 happen and it
becomes very clear, very quickly, that we all only have so much control over
the world and sometimes we just have to roll with whatever comes our way.
We did a LOT of rolling this year.
All of us here at ATYP, staff and teachers, want all of you,
our students and their families, to understand just how truly grateful we are
to you for sticking with us this these last few months. We know it hasn’t been
easy. A lot of your friends went into quarantine with almost nothing to do for
the first few weeks, and we kept asking you to turn in your homework and show
up to online class every week. And you did.
We asked you to keep your brains engaged and to stay
committed, and you did.
We asked you to think creatively and to be there for your
classmates when they needed you, and you did that, too.
In other words, you all have been amazing!
It has been so much fun for us to watch – and post! – your
pictures and videos, to celebrate your achievements, and to marvel at your
capacity to learn and grow. We hope, no matter what you do from here on out,
you will continue to develop those abilities, because continuing to learn and
grow throughout your lifetime is what it is really all about. In the middle of
stay-at-home, learning what you were capable of as students and as human beings
are the lessons that will be most important to you.
We know you have another week left – YOU CAN DO IT! WE KNOW
YOU CAN! – but we just wanted you to know, before classes are over and you all
run off for the summer and forget us for a while, that we are so proud of you.
Yes, I sort of feel like Professor
Dumbledore, standing at the head of the dining hall at Hogwarts handing out house
points…all the cheers for you, friends, on this remarkable achievement!
Until next time,
Ms. Nan
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