Weathering the Storm

Over the weekend, North Carolina experienced some pretty devastating tornadoes. As we were all gathered in my grandparent's basement, I stared out of the window and watched the wind bend trees and move everything around. I usually don't panic during bad weather. I have always looked at it with the attitude that I cannot change the weather. I can only prepare for it. But I will be honest and say that this recent round of tornadoes scared me. After things had settled down, I went outside and sat on the front porch of my house to take a deep breath and pull myself together. To give you a better understanding of where this story is going, I will give you some brief family history. I am living in a 1911 farmhouse that has always been in our family. My grandparents raised my mother and my aunt here. My parents raised our family in this house and today, we are raising our children in this very house. Even as child, the front porch swing was my place of refuge and after the storm, I sought that comfortable place.

As I sat on the porch, I looked over at the beautiful pecan tree that is outside my home. I remember that tree when I was growing up for many reasons. First, as a young child I hated having to pick up pecans and secondly, during storms it was the scariest looking tree through my bedroom window! As I sat starring and the beauty of this massive tree, I thought about the numerous storms this tree has weathered. From massive tornadoes in the mid 1980s to Hurricanes Hazel, Fran, and Floyd, this tree has stood strong. Other trees have fallen and even a few branches have dropped from this pecan tree. But through it all, it still stands. Why this tree? Simple, it has strong, deep roots. Strong, deep roots can help weather the most difficult storms.

As I sat there I began to think a great deal about education today. Education has been weathering some pretty intense storms both here in NC and across the United States. Will we survive? Yes we will. We will survive because we are deeply rooted in our belief that all children can learn. We are deeply rooted in supporting each other, even when morale is unbelievably low. We are deeply rooted in the belief that we will continue to change lives and shape the future.
Yes, the tree of education is the midst of a series of challenging storms. We will continue to keep our beliefs strong, lean on each other and let our deep roots carry us through.