The 23-24 school year marks my 31st year of teaching. And honestly, I feel like a first-year teacher. Planning, changing, planning, starting with new plans, and repeating. What I do know ....we are going to have a great year.  Students will learn, classes will be passed, credits earned, and graduations will be celebrated! Guarantee, it will be a journey. Don't be discouraged if early progress is difficult, but progress is progress, builds momentum, and momentum will carry you to your goals.

Over my 30 years of teaching, I have settled on this analogy: A school year (or 4) is like rowing a life raft across an inland sea. My life raft has 160 occupants with various levels of ability. At the beginning of every year, I am strong enough to row my life raft and my students safely across the sea. To help make this journey as safe as possible, I only ask my students to do the basics. Be on time, work daily, be open to instruction, be a decent citizen, and accept responsibility. As the journey begins, there is room for error, meaning if a student falls behind, we can circle back and pick them up. However, as the journey continues, it's not practical for the raft and all students to return and start over. In that case, I can toss you a lifeline and help you pull yourself back to the raft.  In this situation, you have to be willing to reach out to accept help and hang on. If students get too far behind, they might get left behind, but you can always jump on the summer school or credit recovery raft. Students that don't rock the boat are more successful than those that rock the boat, jump overboard, or splash others.