This month’s blog is co-written by Agency President/CEO Karen Zandi and Director, Marketing and Communications, Greg Kamp.
The month of June is traditionally set aside for graduations from schools all across the country. It’s a time for parties to celebrate the accomplishments of America’s youth and for parents to take pride in the hard work it took their children to meet important educational goals. It’s time for students to show gratitude to parents and educators for helping them get through the trials and tribulations of school, be it kindergarten, grammar school, high school or college.
This June is unlike any other June in recent history. Right now our country is in the midst of two very different crises; one biological that has taken the lives of well over 100,000 people and the other a crisis that has burdened the United States and citizens of color for hundreds of years. COVID-19 came upon our shores; some say as early as November or December of last year. This global pandemic took our country mostly by surprise and separated our society not only through social distancing but labeling us as “essential or non-essential.” The virus took away jobs, family members and any sense for normality for every single one of us. Our school has been closed for three months and in our residences, families have not seen their children in-person for the same time period. We’ve now become accustomed to wearing masks, washing our hands multiple times a day and using hand sanitizer what seems like every five minutes. We’ve watched the racial and cultural divide magnified through the eyes of virus testing, unemployment and economic status.
And yet as costly as the pandemic has been on human life and continues to be, it has been overshadowed, by the death of a black man literally on a street in Minneapolis. The death of George Floyd at the hands of a rogue police officer has set off protests in almost every city in America. Primarily peaceful protests have turned violent but not at the hands of the protestors rather, those who have their mind set on destruction, hurt, revenge and unrest. Clashes with law enforcement has magnified the root of the problem specifically, the inequality of people of color, a plight they have been facing for too many years to count. It’s a plight on our country that needs to be discussed, one conversation at a time, one election at a time with a joint understanding of each other’s perspective and a commitment to change.
No, June certainly isn’t what we are used to. But in the middle of this pandemic and protesting we do need to take a moment to acknowledge the work of Mary Cariola students, their families and our educators. This month, 25 students of the Mary Cariola Center School were scheduled to graduate. In many cases, years of hard work meeting milestones each day, our students reached the pinnacle of their school life. Supported by their families and certainly by their teachers, social workers and clinicians, these wonderful students have been inspiring. While every parent must feel a sense of accomplishment when their children graduate, imagine the pride and gratitude parents of students with special needs must feel. A simple cap and gown with an uplifting ceremony may have been unimaginable for them—and yet it was set to happen, that is until the crisis we continue to face. In the coming weeks we will be highlighting on social media and website our students who were set to graduate. We will salute their accomplishments and even remotely we will celebrate their success. Please join the entire staff of Mary Cariola Center in congratulating the students and their families. Even in the darkest of days, we find sunshine in those we serve.
It is our hope that as our community reopens, that we will have the opportunity for the ceremony that means more than words can express.
Please stay health and Safe.
