Superintendent’s Article March 29, 2021
Just mention the coming of SPRING, and it lifts most everyone’s spirits. We begin to have thoughts of warmer weather, outdoor activities, and throwing off heavy winter coats and gloves. To every Oklahoman, this past winter has been an especially difficult one. Without a doubt, we can blame the Covid pandemic, the ice storm of October, and the blizzard of February for our added anxieties and stress during a season that sometimes seemed interminable. However, I think we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Life saving vaccines are now available to turn the tide of the pandemic. The ice storm is a fading memory, and we can assume the blizzard we experienced in February was an extraordinary storm that surely will not come again in most of our lifetimes.
With the coming of spring, I believe it is fitting to focus on the good that we can sometimes find in an otherwise terrible turn of events. We can attest to the drama and sadness associated with the pandemic, but I believe it is in our best interest to put that behind us and to try to find a ray of hope in an otherwise dismal situation.
We have been blessed in Lindsay. Our grocery, gas, and retail stores stayed open and provided ready access to supplies for our physical wants and needs. Our city, REC, ONG, and propane suppliers did a tremendous job helping us to keep our homes warm and water in our taps. When you read the newspapers or internet news or watch television, you realize just how lucky we were to have infrequent or short interruptions in our services. The school system here in Lindsay was closed for the week of the blizzard because of the extreme road conditions and cold. We had limited damage because of frozen water pipes, but overall, we weathered the storm in good stead--thanks mainly to our dedicated and hard-working service employees.
In addition to the help we received this past year from sources outside the school, I need to take this opportunity to give a hearty shout-out, a pat on the back, or maybe even a standing ovation to the Lindsay District support staff. If you have ever been a part of a school’s organization, you know that without a doubt the support staff is a group of behind-the-scenes heroes who daily keep the whole educational process running smoothly. These people have especially been called upon since last March to give a full measure of their efforts to keep Lindsay Schools up and running. Our support staff worked beyond normal expectations to feed our district’s schoolchildren, to get them to school safely over sometimes treacherous roads, and to provide the safe and clean school environment to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Our office staff patiently handled calls from frightened and sometimes frantic parents who needed reassurance about their children’s safety. Most people would not believe the extent to which our custodial staff has worked and dedicated themselves to keeping our district’s students safe. The jobs these people do on a normal, daily basis are difficult at best, but during the stress and threat of the pandemic, they pushed themselves to worked longer hours and to complete more arduous tasks. As a town and a school district, we cannot thank them enough for working day-in and day-out to keep our children safe. By chance, if you happen to run into someone you know is one of our school support staff, please take the opportunity to thank them for the great job that they have done during this past, most difficult year. We won’t and must not forget this vital part of our school organization. Thank you, SUPPORT STAFF!
Let’s continue to do the job that we need to do to eventually eradicate this deadly virus. The Oklahoma spring winds can’t blow it away, so we must continue to be hopeful but ever mindful of its still lingering threat. Let’s ensure that one day soon, the pandemic, like the October ice storm and the February blizzard, will fade in our memories, and that we can assume that surely it was just a freakish disease the likes of which will not occur again during our or our schoolchildren’s lifetimes. Once again, LINDSAY SCHOOL PATRONS, LINDSAY SUPPORT STAFF, and LINDSAY TEACHERS, thank you for making my job easier as we work together to fulfill our district’s mission statement--Empowering all students for success in an ever-changing world.
Dan Chapman