Greetings,
We finally arrive to the end of our 2019-2020 academic school year. It may not have been the ending we would have imagined when we first started, but here we are. And we should be proud! Take a second to reflect with us on what a journey we are all on by viewing our Facebook Page. You will be reminded of the path we all took together and see wonderful successes amongst all the challenges. We hope you also recognize how all our successes are attributable to our diversity and ability to accept everyone and our unity as one community that supports the greater efforts to build toward the nation’s ideals of a just society. We strive to continue this effort through education, advocacy, and to exemplify a core set of values and beliefs that foster integrity, empowerment, diversity, inclusion, and respect for all.
Due to the pandemic, our whole lives are being impacted in ways we never imagined. We must completely change the way we teach and connect with students, families, and communities. Without hesitation, GMS continues to meet the challenges. By devising plans and materials for students, we continue to offer opportunities for student growth. By sending our students materials, supplies, and learning tools, we continue to connect. By mailing, emailing, hand-delivering student equipment and materials, we continue to be together. By calling, video conferencing, emailing, and writing letters, we continue to build our relationships. By bringing home files, equipment, braillers, embossers, computers, and clearing out space within our homes to make home offices and classrooms, we adapt. By our students stepping up to the challenge and taking new risks and finding new ways to learn, we continue to grow. By us all coming together as one community and ensuring no one is left behind, we get stronger.
These past few months have revealed how strong and resilient the GMS community is. We continue to learn how integral our families are in the process of our students' learning and how their support of their children and their staff is unwavering. We learned how resilient and capable our students are and how their enthusiasm and spirit are fuel for the soul. We learned how brave, compassionate, and devoted our students, family, staff, and community are to ensure we can continue to learn and stay safe. And our GMS community continues to show an abundance of support for our students, families, and staff especially when it is needed most.
Our goal at the start of Remote Learning was to engage and to strengthen the bonds with our students, families, and community. “We are all in this together” is not just a saying, but a phrase of reassurance as we know GMS is going to get through this. We are more than just engaging, we are growing and thriving. This is all thanks to the hard work and collaboration of all our families, students, and departments such as IT, residential life, food services, housekeeping, K-12, HR, security, and the business office working together for the good of each other. We all feel even closer now as a community though we are apart. We are assured that our staff continues to work harder than ever to rise to whatever challenges come next and our GMS community is stronger now than ever before.
This year GMS continues to celebrate 175 years strong! The test of strength is perhaps being tested this year- but thanks to us all being in this together as one GMS community- we are only getting stronger and stronger by the day. This leaves us all to believe that no matter what happens as we enter the new school year, our students will be able to learn, be safe, and continue to thrive- the true mission of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for everyone’s contributions to the success and safety of our GMS community throughout this school year.
Yours in this journey together,
Matthew Mescall