Posted: November 2, 2020

Staff,

I wanted to follow-up on last week’s HOPE and JOY and discuss resiliency this week.  Developing resilient learners is something we’ve been focused on for a long time.  We may not have considered our own resilience or the role we play in supporting a community’s resilience.   I love this quote about resilience from author Sharon Salzberg. “Resilience is based on compassion for ourselves as well as compassion for others.”  Resilience is a mutual relationship with our community and ourselves.

The Washington Department of Health releases a monthly Statewide High-Level Analysis of Forecasted Behavioral Health Impacts from COVID-19. October’s edition features resiliency and describes what can happen during a disaster.

Community resilience is the capacity of individuals and households within a community to absorb, endure, and recover from the impacts of a disaster. Approximately 50% of Washington residents have one or two risk factors that can threaten resilience. The typical long-term response to disaster is resilience, rather than disorder. Resilience is something that can be intentionally taught, practiced, and developed for people across all age groups. Resilience can be increased by:

  • Becoming adaptive and psychologically flexible.
  • Focusing on developing social connections, big or small.
  • Reorienting and developing a sense of purpose.
  • Focusing on hope. 

The forecast goes on to offer suggestions for how to support organizational resiliency, highlighting the importance of the ability to learn and adapt in an ever-changing environment, effective communication, and shared trust and interdependence.  I have really appreciated your participation in our all staff meetings and have set up another one for Tuesday, November 10th at 3:30 pm (zoom info to come).  New research and recommendations have been coming in related to increasing in-person learning experiences for students and I want to share updates with you, listen to your ideas, and respond to questions.

We have had a lot of and will continue to have opportunities to exercise our resiliency muscles both professionally and personally, including navigating the pandemic, challenging ourselves to consider equity in new ways, and recognizing the value of a free election in our democracy.

It’s going to be quite a week for everyone and resiliency grounded in compassion will be needed and welcomed.

Jeff