More Than the Eye Can See

"What does Mr. Underwood do at High Meadows?" preschooler Ryder Karaba asked his mom, Christina. "He runs the school," she replied. "Seriously?" he exclaimed. "I mean, SERIOUSLY???" 

Yes, Ryder, mystifying as it may seem, I'm more than the guy who waves at cars in the morning. 

Ryder's incredulity got me thinking. From a preschooler's perspective, reality is right in front of the eyes, in the moment. And that's not too different from the way the rest of us think, at least some of the time. We are more than the eye can see. We may immediately appear to each other as students, teachers, administrators, parents. But we are also dancers, athletes, philosophers, jokesters. Behind the artifice of our "school" selves, we are people who feel joy and pain, experience love and fear.

Sue Amacker and I took on this topic at this morning's Community Gathering. At High Meadows, we teach our students to look beyond the surface of a person and understand that we are complex beings. Instead of jumping to conclusions or judging someone based on what that person presents publicly, pause, breathe and think instead. Remember that when we see his anger, we are not seeing his fear. When we see her "misbehaving" in class, we are not seeing her desire for belonging and significance.

We are all connected by our humanness. As hard it is to believe sometimes, we all feel the same emotions and desire the same things. So let's take a page from our own book. Let's pause and look beyond when we are affronted or irritated by another. Let's teach our children that building community is about believing, as they sing in High School Musical, that "we are all in this together." Thank you, Ryder, for giving me this opportunity to reflect on what it means to be a good citizen in the High Meadows Community and beyond. Seriously!