When, On a Monday, You Play Hooky (Come With a Cookie) Or Two

Nicole Brown and Donna Delbasso, Hill Central K-8

After a weekend of work, and then a morning of planning and writing, I decided to go for a run then do what I love doing most: practicing a good deed.

Schools began a couple of weeks ago in Connecticut and usually I am in buildings awaiting for teachers to arrive so I can help them to kick off the year with optimism, promise, joy, and hope. This year, however, because of pressing circumstances (dossier dossier dossier) I didn't dare leave my office in fear of losing time.

So, after I ran yesterday, I decided to stop by a school on my way to campus to begin 'hatching from my self-reflective analyzing cocoon' by visiting educators I love most. This includes Vice Principal Nicole Brown and her partner in literacy excellence, Donna Delbasso. These two were the visionaries behind the years I worked with Kwame Alexander, CWP-Fairfield, and Attallah Sheppard at their school. We accomplished Digital Acoustics as a result: yearlong professional development, conference presentations, radio shows, and publication.

I stopped by the bakery in town and then drove to New Haven - yes, way out of the way from campus - and brought them Half Moons and Smilies. I was late to the back-to-school heartwarming, but both of them, when they saw me, yelled, "How did you know we were in need of seeing you?"

The love-fest was short-lived, but I got enough time to catch up and to hear about their latest efforts of accomplishing great things in 2017-2018.

They are hard workers and I am inspired by their drive and focus. Seeing them helped to refuel my own work this semester, especially today when I go back to back with my graduate courses.

Here's to them. Here's to us. Here's to the kids. And here's to the semester.