A first of Many…

I have been looking for a place to share my thoughts about education and child development. My goal is to share a few thoughts, resources, and some highlights about what makes Roots and Wings School so special. I figured the best place to start would be how Roots and Wings School came to be.​ I have always had a passion for education and child development. Teaching was a natural first step into a profession that felt like my calling. I spent years working as a paraprofessional, watching, learning, and observing my colleagues all along building my own philosophy and deepening my understanding of my role in the field of education and child development. I went on to finish my degree and began my classroom teaching career as a 5th-grade teacher in a small rural K-6 school in New Hampshire. I never stopped watching and taking in the beauty of our little school. I absolutely loved it and thought I was going to change the world! But as I watched, I also began to question the public system. I saw how some children slid between the cracks and if no one was looking or advocating for them, they would rest there quietly hoping no one would notice. I saw grand potential squashed when a child couldn't produce a certain type of product to demonstrate understanding. I saw how teachers were stretched so thin becoming the nurse, counselor, friend, advocate, educator, moral compass, meal provider, and authority figure, to a point that was just not sustainable - many outwitting the system wearing a badge of pure exhaustion because they would never give up on their kids, while others treaded water violently grasping for anything to help them float, even if that meant automating tasks, activities, and programming to meet the needs of the 20-30 students in their care that year - year after year after year. I saw how families learned to drop and run in order to keep up with the Joneses - leading to children feeling a battle of school versus home. I saw children cry and melt into anxious puddles while taking hours of standardized tests, even if the child was documented at a cognitive level below their same-grade-level peers. I saw how many children flourished in unscripted moments, when the learning flowed past page 57 of a textbook, only to be told at a district level that my ultimate goal was to make sure I followed a pacing calendar. I saw creativity and passion from every single adult in a child's life especially if the world outside the walls of the school had been cruel to the child - from physically providing food and clothing to staying after school volunteering to support their homework because the child may not have that kind of support at home. I have worked with the best. Teachers, paraprofessionals (unsung heroes in a classroom), and some great administrators. I have also watched the system eat some of the best alive. I worked with the most incredible families and I worked with some that found my passion for their child's development for the next 180 days revolting because I asked too much of an already strained connection to the school system.​I adopted the mentality "within my four walls" spending my own money, many evenings and weekends away from my own growing family to fix it. I learned, researched, and tried to prove I could make a systematic change from "within my four walls." There were so many ideas I implemented. I changed the lighting to help a student avoid headaches. I added curtains to make the room feel cozier and more homelike. I created positive behavior systems to reward and shine a light on the children doing their best - those children that I worried would fall through the cracks. I wrote positive affirmations on my students' desks each morning. I created family engagement nights to build a community I sensed our children needed, their families needed, and one that I needed. I joined numerous committees and hired new vibrant educators to join my team. But no matter what I did, I struggled to remain a healthy part of a broken system. It was really weighing me down.​The last sign for me was the pandemic. If the halting of public education due to a global pandemic wasn't going to make us all take a hard look at our system, I knew nothing was going to. I began to take steps to leave a profession that I thought was my dream. First-generation college graduate, and what was it all for? What happens when you strive for something that once obtained, you realize was an illusion? You cry a lot, but then once you catch your breath, you look in. You take a long hard look at your place in a system you can't control or influence and decide what your next step should be. It was a pivotal moment for me and I am so grateful I had so much support in my life at that time. Family, friends, and mentors that knew my light was dimming and it was time to create a place to shine. That is how the dream of Roots and Wings School became a seed I could cultivate (and still do to this day). It's like a living, breathing garden that needs constant cultivation but will bear the fruits of the labor. Roots and Wings is still in its infancy, but what I have built, created, carved, taken apart, rebuilt, suffered through, revived, thrown out, inspired, and dreamed has been the most challenging, yet fulfilling chapter of my career. ​I vow to make sure that Roots and Wings School will continue to grow, change, modify, and shift while maintaining its solid foundation in child development, letting nature be our guide, belonging to a community, and supporting the individual growth of each and every one of our students. I am so grateful for the community Roots and Wings is becoming, the families we've touched, the families that have touched us, and the ones we haven't met yet. Here's a movie clip of the highlights and dreams I have for Roots and Wings. I hope this helps you see what Roots and Wings is becoming and all it could be in the future. Enjoy!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​