Mooney

Education is a marathon, not a sprint. And most of the students, families and educators in the Hermiston School District at some point in the past 15 months experienced hitting the metaphorical wall.

There was no precedent for the 2020-21 school year, and the very real social, emotional and educational impacts affected everyone. Every day brought new challenges.

The strain of switching educational tactics multiple times — first online learning, then hybrid and finally in-person with safety measures in place — took its toll. Students and teachers both need consistency to function and perform at their best, and the 2020-21 school year didn’t offer much stability or predictability. We closed out the academic calendar in need of a breather.

The good news is, just like marathon runners train to get over the wall and finish the race strong, the Hermiston School District is here to make sure students can find their second wind and start rebuilding both speed and endurance. We have teachers eager to help that process and strong community support for the students.

That work began when we started bringing students back into the classroom and will continue through the summer. Making sure each student has an opportunity to make up for the lost classroom hours is critical.

I am extremely proud of the nearly 380 students who crossed the stage at graduation in the face of historic adversity. They are powerful role models for the younger students who will follow. Every graduating class has a unique character and personality, and the Class of 2021 will be remembered for their resilience.

Hopefully we’ll all learn from their example. Coming back from an unusual, difficult year will take patience as educators evaluate where each student is academically and helps bring those who have fallen behind back up to their potential.

And we can’t forget the emotional strain. It has been a hard year, with so many missed opportunities for our kids. Sports, activities, time with friends and family, and many of the usual milestones of growing up were delayed or skipped entirely. We can’t take that for granted.

But there’s also a lot to celebrate. In the fall we will resume school with full classrooms and what we hope will be a full extracurricular calendar. The strain and uncertainty will be behind us and we can look toward the future.

As a final note, I am grateful to this community for its ongoing support of its students. We’ve missed seeing you all at sporting events, school plays and concerts, and all the other usual school functions. But we’ve felt the support.

The nice thing about a marathon is there’s still a lot of race left to run. As our students find their stride and their teachers coach them along the way, having a community cheering them on makes all the difference.

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Dr. Tricia Mooney is superintendent of Hermiston School District.